Now that New York State has a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, it’s identified over 700 schools that must plan improvements – but they will have more flexibility over their funds. A total of 354 of the schools are in New York City.

Here’s a roundup of the news that occurred this week — including the city’s comeback to an arbitrator’s rejection of its “turnaround” hiring plans and the Obama administration’s re-shaping of the No Child Left Behind law.

New York is one of 19 states to receive a federal waiver from complying with provisions of the No Child Left Behind law. State Education Commissioner John B. King says the waiver allows New York to disregard requirements that were “unproductive or unrealistic.”

In all the months of Republican primaries and early campaigning, the topic of education rarely emerged. That changed on Wednesday when the presumed Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, announced his new education agenda.

If your child has a birthday after Aug. 31, he or she might be ineligible for kindergarten in some city charter schools, The Post reports — a policy of the charters that is tolerated by the city, even though it might cut off some of the needier students from starting kindergarten in the year they turn 5.

The No Child Left Behind law required struggling schools to set aside some of their federal assistance to provide tutoring for low-income students. New York City now spends $100 million a year on tutoring. But with New York and other states seeking waivers from the No Child Left Behind Law, tutoring has come under scrutiny.

New York’s education commissioner John B. King told the WNYC host Brian Lehrer that New York education officials plan to bring schools up to higher standards and use more flexibility when they evaluate schools and distribute money. Listen to the interview and his response to listeners’ questions on test scores, cheating and teacher performance.

No Child Left Behind waivers, no changes in school lunch nutrition standards and no easy way to choose a high school in New York City are among the topics in the news. And seven city schoolteachers will be honored for their excellence in teaching science and math.

The state’s Board of Regents meets to vote on a measure to help illegal immigrants pay for college. The board will also vote on new rules affecting the delivery of special education services, including some that school districts say drive up costs.

On this Veteran’s Day, disappointing news related to the No Child Left Behind law: the number of failing schools in New York State has skyrocketed, with 1,325 of the state’s 4,685 public schools now on the failure list. New York City schools accounted for 640 of them. State Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch says: “If student performance doesn’t improve, schools must be held accountable. We are watching.”