...this time in Connecticut. From
Yahoo News:
Connecticut became the first state to file suit against the federal government over the No Child Left Behind Act, claiming the Bush administration has not provided enough money to pay for new testing and programs.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Hartford against federal Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, asks a judge to declare that state and local funds cannot be used to meet the goals of the law.
"We in Connecticut do a lot of testing already, far more than most other states. Our taxpayers are sagging under the crushing costs of local education," said Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell. "What we don't need is a new laundry list of things to do — with no new money to do them."
Of course, NCLB isn't an unfunded mandate. It is totally optional for states. Of course, the states that opt out would miss out on all those taxpayer dollars, but let's not kid ourselves about NCLB being an "unfunded mandate." The Heritage Foundation has the
real truth about this myth.
The distinction between voluntary and mandated programs is important. Its central principal is that states should be free to spend their own tax revenues as they see fit, rather than forced to fund unwanted programs imposed on them by Washington.
Voluntary programs, by definition, are not imposed on states. They are mere proposals by the federal government of how states could perform a certain function. If a state likes the federal model, Washington offers to help pay the costs of implementing it. If a state dislikes like the model, they can opt-out and remain independent of federal meddling.
There's plenty more where that came from...
