Connecticut plans challenge to education act

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut is preparing a lawsuit to challenge President Bush's No Child Left Behind education law, and become the first state to challenge the federal mandate in court.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday the federal lawsuit will contend the law illegally and unconstitutionally requires states and communities to spend millions more than the federal government provides for test development and school reform programs.

"This law is outrageously wrong. It's bad education policy, but it's also blatantly illegal," Blumenthal said.

While other states have questioned the law and asked the federal government and Congress to make changes, they have not gone to court. Blumenthal said he anticipates that other states will join his lawsuit. Signed in 2002, the law's aim is to have all students in public schools proficient in reading and math by 2014.

The U.S. Department of Education criticized Connecticut's looming lawsuit, pointing to large achievement gaps between the state's minority and white students as a reason Connecticut schools should be held accountable.

"The basis for the state's lawsuit appears to rest on a flawed cost study of the No Child Left Behind Act that creates inflated projections built upon questionable estimates and misallocation of costs," the statement said.