States that want newly offered relief from certain provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act are scrambling to satisfy an easily overlooked requirement that they "meaningfully" engage with teachers, unions, parents, and community organizations, and even modify their waiver proposals based on that input. Federal education officials warn that failure to meet the collaboration requirement could doom even a stellar waiver application that includes a rock-solid accountability system and an aggressive plan for intervening in failing schools. States must show they worked with stakeholders in the planning process. It is an especially daunting task for the 16 states that have indicated they will apply by the Nov. 14 deadline for the first round of waivers being offered by the U.S. Department of Education under the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Not meeting that requirement--to the satisfaction of the peer reviewers or the department--would be a deal-breaker. States would have to try again in a later round of waiver-judging, which is expected to occur next month and throughout 2012.