No Lawyer Left Behind

States say No Child Left Behind (NCLB) forces them to spend money they don't have on things they don't want. NYTimes (04.21.05):

"Opening a new front in the growing rebellion against President Bush's signature education law, the nation's largest teachers' union and eight school districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont sued the Department of Education yesterday, accusing it of violating a passage in the law that says states cannot be forced to spend their own money to meet federal requirements. A day before the suit was filed, Utah's Republican-dominated Legislature approved the most far-reaching legislative challenge to the law." Districts and Teachers' Union Sue Over Bush Law

The bone of contention is that there is a provision in the NCLB "which prohibits federal officials from requiring states to allocate their own money to fulfill the law's mandates." On the other hand, NCLB requires States to do a lot of testing, and that "every racial and demographic group in every school must score higher on standardized tests every year. Falling short can bring sanctions, including the closing of schools." It appears that the NCLB doesn't, however provide funding to cover many of the attendent costs. "'The law says that you don't have to do anything it requires unless you receive the federal money to do it,' said Robert H. Chanin, the union's lead counsel. 'There's a promise in the law, and it is unambiguous.'" "This month, Connecticut's attorney general also announced the intention to sue the department on the same grounds, saying that the testing the law requires costs far more than the money the state is given to pay for it." "(Secretary of Education Margaret) Spellings has promised more flexibility, but those assurances have failed to blunt resistance to the law, even in strongly Republican states like Texas, which is defying a federal ruling on the testing of disabled children." Then there is the issue of local control: "In Utah yesterday, Tim Bridgewater, an aide to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a Republican, said that the governor would sign the bill that was approved on Tuesday. During the debate, several lawmakers protested the growth of federal influence on Utah's schools, asserting that while Washington paid 8 cents of every education dollar in the state, the law had given it virtually total control." Eduwonk is skeptical (04.21.05):

"(T)he real problem with the NEA's lawsuit against NCLB is not so funny. The suit could well have the opposite effect than they intend. It's obviously as much a political as a legal strategy, but rather than build additional sympathy for more education funding, the lawsuit will again be an opportunity for Republicans to call attention to the substantial increases in funding for elementary and secondary education over the past four years, let alone the last decade (including the Clinton second term increases)." Bad Strategery?

Details of No Child Left Behind Lawsuit