The State of Connecticut has become the first state to file a lawsuit against the United States government over the so-called "No Child Left Behind" Act, also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2002. The main claim is that the federal law requires significant investment in school programs by local and state entities while the federal government provides inadequate funding.
The basic argument: Provide funding or stop the mandates.
The U.S. department responded to the threat of the lawsuit in April.
The best part is that this is a wealthy state, one that pays its teachers well. It is a state that has credibility on the issue of education. It's not a left-wing state on the West Coast or some liberal big city. And, the state of Utah as well as a number of local districts have made similar complaints. I expect a number of states to join the lawsuit in asking a federal judge to declare that local and state funds cannot be required to be used to meet federal mandates.
I have said that the years of 2003-2008 will be a sort of Purgatory for education reform. We have cast a die, and we don't yet know how the mold will turn out. As the ultimate deadline approaches in 2008 (for Washington state seniors to pass the state assessment to graduate) and another decade for national requirements to be met, we will begin to see people fed up with mandates say they aren't going to take it anymore.
Stay tuned.
-- Wenatchee, Wash.
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3 comments:
Damn the man!
The law sets up unattainable standards and then expects them to be met. I am all for improving standards and expecting more of students, but a dose of reality is warranted as well. Never will we have a free system where everyone meets standard; that's ludicrous to expect.
Almost half of all students are under average!
As long as this is true, we will need a big intrusive bureaucracy and unfunded mandates.
There is a huge difference between below average and below standard. Lots of people will always be below average, simply by definition. But we can get many more people to the standard if we work hard and have resources to do it. Resources means teachers, texts, equipment, materials and so on. And those cost money. Some of that should come from the federal government, or the feds should stop telling the states how to run their educational systems.
I am surprised the conservatives like this intrusion on states' rights!
-- L.
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