D.C. schools won relief from the federal No Child Left Behind law, giving local campuses more time to boost math and reading performance and high-school graduation rates, officials from the U.S. Department of Education announced.

Under the waiver, the District has committed to having 74 percent of students proficient in math and 73 percent proficient in reading on standardized tests by 2017. Currently, about 45 percent of D.C. students pass muster in either subject. Had the waiver not been approved, the District would have been expected legally to bring 100 percent of students to proficiency by 2014.