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For those following the politics of high stakes testing in the U.S., it
looks like a government power struggle looms over the No Child Left Behind
Act.

Some states feel that it involves federal interferance in education
(traditionally a very local issue) and amounts to an unfunded mandate. The
NCLBA requires certain tests and other actions, but has provided no money to
the states (or not enough) to carry out its requirements.

Now, something of a backlash is brewing in Utah:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=2&u=/ap/20050
420/ap_on_re_us/no_child_left_behind

Moreover, Connecticut is going to sue over the act, citing the unfunded
mandate thing. Connecticut already has rigorous testing, but the NCLBA
requires even more. The secretary of education called our state
"un-American" and "bigoted" because of this. (Harsh words from an education
secretary are no new matter; her predecessor called the National Education
Association, a teachers union, "a terrorist organization".)

Jonah Cohen
Outreach and Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut

"God grant me the company of those who seek the truth, and God deliver me
from those who have found it."
	-Isaac Newton

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