Gov. Nathan Deal says Georgia will join a host of other states in seeking a waiver to the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The Obama administration unveiled its plan Monday to give states a break from the widely criticized decade-old law. The law is four years overdue for reauthorization but the overhaul has become mired in Congress.

Deal says Georgia education officials are working on a new accountability system that would take into account more than just standardized test scores. It would look at student growth, Advanced Placement scores, SAT scores and attendance, among other measures.

Critics call the law's benchmarks unrealistic and say they brand schools as failures even if they are making progress.

Tags: accountability, No Child Left Behind, AYP, adequate yearly progress, No Child Left Behind waiver