Nevada school districts just got a new tool for managing federal money, after the U.S. Department of Education approved the state's application to join the Ed-Flex program this week. The approval, granted alongside applications from Arizona and South Carolina on Friday, pushes the number of participating states to 25 — exactly half the country.
The federal decision means Nevada's education agency can now grant local districts and charter schools waivers from certain rigid federal spending rules without waiting on Washington for sign-off, according to the Tampa Free Press. Ed-Flex authority traces back to the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 and was reauthorized in 2015 under Section 9207 of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which lets state educational agencies issue waivers to districts for terms of up to five years, as reported by Breitbart.
Dr. Victor Wakefield, Nevada's Superintendent of Public Instruction, said the approval provides more flexibility for districts and schools in using federal Title funding, per the Tampa Free Press report. Nevada state education leaders linked the approval to ongoing modernization efforts across state government, and Governor Joe Lombardo and the Nevada legislature are leading broader efforts to modernize and streamline government processes, the outlet noted.
How Nevada Got Here
Nevada's path to Ed-Flex approval followed Lombardo's September 2025 appointment of Wakefield as superintendent. Nevada's participation also resulted from feedback gathered during Wakefield's statewide listening tour earlier in 2026, according to the Tampa Free Press. That groundwork built on a state initiative that suspended 16 administrative reporting mandates for Nevada educators, a move Hoodline covered when the state axed 16 school reports last month. Nevada officials say the goal is to focus time and resources on high-quality teaching and learning, per the Tampa Free Press account.
Arizona and South Carolina secured their own approvals in the same round. Arizona Superintendent Tom Horne said local people have more knowledge to make good decisions than out-of-state decision makers, and that Ed-Flex gives Arizona local district and charter schools more control over education spending, according to the Tampa Free Press. South Carolina Superintendent Ellen Weaver said the flexibility creates more opportunities for students to learn, grow, and succeed, adding that the state is grateful for the approval and the federal government's confidence in its ability to responsibly use it, the outlet reported. South Carolina officials emphasized that reducing administrative friction would benefit classroom instruction, and Weaver said the flexibility will better support districts, empower educators, and keep the focus on students and their success, per the same account.
What Waivers Actually Unlock
Ed-Flex authority applies to major K-12 funding streams under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, including Title I basic programs, Title II teacher support, Title IV enrichment grants, and Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act grants, according to the West Virginia Department of Education. In practice, that includes lifting rigid spending caps on student support and academic enrichment funds, the Tampa Free Press reported. Standard federal Title I rules normally bar districts from carrying over more than 15 percent of unspent basic program funds into the next fiscal year more than once every three years, a limit the California Department of Education notes Ed-Flex states can waive directly. Title IV, Part A rules also normally force districts receiving over $30,000 to allocate fixed percentage minimums toward well-rounded education, student safety, and technology, according to the Alabama State Department of Education — restrictions Ed-Flex lets districts sidestep in favor of local priorities like STEM programs or campus security.
During the 2023–2024 school year, participating Ed-Flex states granted roughly 575 waivers to local school districts, most of them aimed at loosening Title I carryover caps or adjusting spending thresholds on student support grants, per Breitbart. That volume reflects a federal push that began in September 2025, when the U.S. Department of Education launched a formal outreach campaign urging chief state school officers to apply for Ed-Flex authority, according to a U.S. Department of Education announcement. Participation climbed from 11 states in September 2025 to 18 by May 2026 — the milestone Hoodline covered when Florida and Illinois joined the program — before reaching the current 25-state total this week.
Guardrails and Broader Federal Push
Federal law explicitly bars Ed-Flex waivers from touching core civil rights rules, maintenance of effort requirements, student performance standards, parental involvement mandates, or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act protections, Breitbart reported. National Association of State Boards of Education official Kirsten Baesler said reaching 25 Ed-Flex states is a watershed moment proving that the paradigm is shifting in American education, adding that innovation thrives when state and local leaders have regulatory freedom to respond directly to students, according to the Tampa Free Press. Federal officials framed the milestone as an effort to shift administrative power from Washington to state and local leaders, and Ed-Flex authority is expected to result in better decisions and better use of federal funds to improve student achievement, the outlet reported.
The Nevada, Arizona, and South Carolina approvals arrived alongside a separate federal program: the Department of Education also approved “Returning Education to the States” waivers for six other states — Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Vermont — allowing them to consolidate more than $109 million in federal grant funds, according to the Hays Post. Together, the moves give half of the nation's states authority to waive certain federal education rules directly, the Tampa Free Press noted, as federal officials pursue multiple waiver pathways to expand state control over education dollars.
