Just issued by the Department of Education:

And just posted by the News & Observer:

“Neither students nor teachers need to be focused on high-stakes tests during this difficult time,” U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said in a news release Friday. “Students are simply too unlikely to be able to perform their best in this environment.

“Our actions today provide turnkey flexibilities for state and local leaders to focus on the immediate needs of their students and educators without worrying about federal repercussions.”

States around the nation have submitted waiver requests from testing requirements. State Superintendent Mark Johnson told ABC11, the News & Observer’s media partner, on Thursday that he would submit a waiver request for North Carolina.

The exams are still required under state law. They’re used by the state for things such as evaluating teachers, giving bonuses to principals and teachers and giving A-F letter grades to schools based on their performance.

It was not immediately clear Friday whether the General Assembly will agree to waive the exams this school year.

Waive the state exams for this year.

And stop giving school performance grades for this year.

And every year after that.