The United States Department of Education (USED) granted 11 states waivers (eight full waivers and three conditional waivers) to provide what the USED termed "flexibility" from meeting some of the requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Much of the flexibility relieves schools from the Adequate Yearly Progress mandate that requires all students to demonstrate 100 percent proficiency on state-mandated standardized tests in grades 3-8 and 11. There are significant strings attached to the purported flexibility. State education agency (SEA) bureaucrats must develop plans that lead to the adoption of college and career-ready curriculum standards in language arts and mathematics by 2013. SEA bureaucrats also must continue testing students in grades 3-8 and one time in high school with a mandated test aligned to the college and career-ready curriculum. The author submits three suggestions for the Secretary and state education bureaucrats to consider as they move forward with the waiver process. The suggestions are the following: (1) Reject standardization to provide honest flexibility; (2) Refuse standardized tests for high-stakes decisions; and (3) Invest in traditional public schools.