Connecticut Attorney General Calls On US Education Secretary To Fully Fund No Child Left Behind

May 29, 2007 -- "I welcome U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to Connecticut and hope she will be listening to legitimate criticism about illegal, unfunded mandates imposed on cities and towns by No Child Left Behind.

"Secretary Spellings needs to listen to administrators and teachers in the trenches who know firsthand the devastating impact of unfunded mandates. I urge the secretary to seize this opportunity to stop imposing millions of dollars in unfunded mandates on state cities and towns, as well as exercise the flexibility and sensitivity to local conditions that the law allows.

"I strongly support the goals of No Child Left Behind -- raising achievement levels and closing achievement gaps -- but the law specifically forbids the federal government from imposing unfunded mandates. The U.S. Department of Education has flouted the prohibition on unfunded mandates, unfairly imposing tens of millions of dollars in additional costs on Connecticut school districts. Meeting these unfunded mandates in some cases has forced the state to cut programs designed to close the achievement gap between minority and white students, a vital goal of No Child Left Behind.

"My office, backed by the General Assembly and the governor, sued the federal government to stop these illegal unfunded mandates. Our pending lawsuit seeks to force compliance with the law, not to cripple or kill it. We will continue this fight in court and seek reforms in Congress."

Source: Connecticut Attorney General

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