Published: June 1, 1990

Few Takers For Waivers

That puzzling phenomenon is repeating itself all over the country.

In the past six years, more than 20 states have adopted waiver provisions that allow some schools to get out from under state regulations in order to experiment with teaching and learning. Waivers can be sought in a variety of areas, ranging from personnel requirements to curriculum mandates to the length of the school day.

But at both the state and district levels, officials report far fewer requests for waivers than they had anticipated. And the requests they have received cover relatively...