Waivers
Main Contact Information
Each school year, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) receives and grants many types of state waiver applications, including general and expedited waivers for both basic and detailed information from districts, as well as attendance and maximum class size waivers. The status of submitted requests can be checked online on our waivers report page.
Most waivers are coordinated through the State Waivers Unit, however the Bilingual Exception/ESL waiver, Certification waiver, and Test-Limit waiver are processed by other agency personnel. Additionally, individuals (non-district staff) who have questions regarding Certification waivers may contact the Certification Division. For information and guidance related to these specific waivers, please use the appropriate links and/or contact information located to the right.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has received approval from the U. S. Department of Education (USDE) for a request to waive specific provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by P.L. 107-110 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The waiver requests gives TEA and more than 1,200 local education agencies (LEAs) additional flexibility while reducing duplication.
USDE approves waiver for 2015-2016 school year
USDE Response to Request for Reconsideration of High-Risk Designation (Nov. 6, 2015) (PDF, 1,381 KB)
Request for Reconsideration of High-Risk Designation State of Texas (Oct. 9, 2015) (PDF)
Texas ESEA Flexibility Renewal Letter (September 2015), (PDF)
U.S. Department of Education website containing Texas-related ESEA flexibility documents (outside source)
TEA submits waiver renewal application (June and September 2015)
TEA submitted an updated waiver renewal request, along with attachments, in June and a final waiver request in September. Those documents can be found below:
Final ESEA waiver renewal request (Sept. 16, 2015) (PDF)
Updated waiver renewal request (PDF, 1,234 KB)
USDE waiver input from education service centers (PDF, 468 KB)
USDE waiver - attachment containing revisions to mathematics TEKS (PDF, 245 KB)
Initial June 2015 submission
The U.S. Department of Education requires state agencies to submit a document that shows changes made to the waiver application. Posted below is a clean copy as well as a version that shows the changes made to the waiver application.
Request for waiver renewal (PDF)
Request for waiver renewal (Changes shown) (PDF)
Request for waiver renewal - Attachments (PDF, 38.2 MB)