February 24, 2005 -- State Legislatures Call for Change in Bush Education Law

In the strongest opposition yet voiced to the Bush administration's education reform law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, a task force of the National Conference of State Legislatures charged in a report released yesterday that the federal law is an "excessive intrusion" into day-today operations of public schools; is an unconstitutional usurpation of states' control of education; and is in direct conflict with another federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The task force cited the NCLB's requirement that students must be tested at certain grade levels as an intrusion by the federal government into states' responsibility for testing. They also pointed to the NCLB's requirement that students with disabilities must take the same tests as non-disabled students as a contradiction of the IDEA's principle that children with disabilities should have unique educational programs geared to their capabilities. While the task force noted that the U.S. Constitution does not give the federal government authority over education—thereby leaving education to the states—it did not recommend taking the administration to court on the issue of unconstitutionality. Instead, task force members said they hope to persuade Congress to change the law before its expiration date in 2007. The task force report is online at www.ncsl.org.