Spartan Echo

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate panel has unanimously passed legislation updating the No Child Left Behind education law, setting up a likely vote by the full Senate this spring.

The legislation would continue to require annual standardized tests to measure student performance, but would allow the states to determine how much weight to give them in evaluating schools.

The unanimous vote belies the tougher challenges ahead. The House abruptly canceled a vote on its version of the bill early this year when it became uncertain it would pass. It has not rescheduled a vote.

Both Republicans and Democrats have complained that the requirements in the 2002 law were unworkable.

The Obama administration in 2012 began allowing waivers around some of the law’s more stringent requirements if schools met certain conditions.