First Chicago, now Philly. How many other big cities will this happen to?

The Philadelphia School District has asked the state Department of Education for a one-year waiver on complying with the federal law that requires parents to be notified of and allowed to transfer their children out of schools deemed "persistently dangerous."

The district specifically does not want to notify parents by letter that their children attend dangerous schools and that they have the right to transfer. The district contends that the 27 city schools listed as dangerous were so designated, in part, because the school district has been more aggressive in the last year in arresting students while enforcing the district's discipline policy. Numbers of arrests was among the criteria considered when designating dangerous schools.

That NCLB is a mess. If districts can get waivers why have it at all?