Blankenship urges Freudenthal not to sue
BILL LUCKETT Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Saturday, April 30, 2005 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Gov. Dave Freudenthal wants Wyoming experts' advice on whether to sue the federal government for failing to fully fund the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
To that end, Freudenthal sent a letter this week to Superintendent of Public Instruction Trent Blankenship and all local school district superintendents and board chairmen, asking how the act has affected on-the-ground education efforts across the state.
"Any discussion of suing the federal government, particularly over something as fundamental as education, has to be undertaken very carefully and very seriously," Freudenthal said in a press release. "That's why we start here, with a clear picture of how No Child Left Behind affects us as a state, what may or may not need to be done and what our options are."
He noted that the National Education Association has filed a lawsuit over the act, and the state of Connecticut plans to do so as well.
Blankenship released a statement Friday evening urging the governor not to sue.
He said the act is benefitting Wyoming students and schools, and Wyoming schools are among the best in the nation at meeting the act's requirements.
"NCLB's focus on ensuring that all students are achieving in schools is the right approach," Blankenship said. "Although the act isn't perfect, we should continue working with the U.S. Department of Education rather than join those who remain paralyzed by political infighting."
He met recently with U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to discuss the flexibility she has extended for special education and English as a second language issues, and he said Spellings is open to change.
"Her recent announcement regarding flexibility for special education students demonstrates that our concerns are being heard," Blankenship said.
He said that for the past two state budgets, from the 2002-03 biennium to 2004-05, Wyoming's federal education funding related to No Child Left Behind has increased by more than $56 million, while other sources of federal education funding have remained at the same level.
Freudenthal spokeswoman Lara Azar said the governor's letter was sent just Wednesday to local superintendents and board chairmen, and the governor's office had not received any responses as of Friday afternoon.
Freudenthal has no specific timeline for making a decision to file a lawsuit, Azar said.
"I think that will depend on the nature of the responses he receives," she said.
She added that the governor is "not inclined to dawdle" over the issue, but he wants to hear from the state's experts before making a decision.
Freudenthal is not leaning toward or away from legal action at this point, according to Azar.
"Really, he wants to know how No Child Left Behind is playing out for better or for worse in Wyoming," she said.
The governor specifically asks each school district if it is receiving enough federal money to meet the demands of the act and whether the district has had to use other state money to comply with the act.
Unfunded mandate?
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said his state plans to sue the U.S. Department of Education over the act. Connecticut's claim is that the federal government has not given the state enough money to cover the act's requirement of annual testing of students in grades 3 through 8.
The National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union, filed its lawsuit April 20, alleging that the Bush administration has failed to properly fund the No Child Left Behind Act, although the act requires the administration to do so.
Plaintiffs in that case represent several school districts in Vermont, Texas and Michigan as well as the NEA and state-level teacher associations.
The groups claim that the administration has violated the law's prohibition against unfunded mandates, which states, "Nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the federal government to mandate, direct, or control a state, local education agency, or school's curriculum, program of instruction, or allocation of state or local resources, or mandate a state or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this act."
The NEA contends that since the act's passage in 2002, there has been a $27 billion funding shortfall, and cost studies in Ohio and Texas estimate that the price of the regulations to state taxpayers could run as high as $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.
On the other hand, Blankenship cited studies that show states are profiting from the federal act. One such study was released in February 2004 by AccountabilityWorks, a nonprofit national research organization that studies assessment issues.
That study estimates states will collectively receive a surplus of $787 million in federal No Child Left Behind funding for the 2004-05 upcoming school year, a surplus that could increase to $5 billion by the 2007-08 school year, Blankenship said.
"An October 2004 report from U.S. Department of Education shows that states are sitting on more than $10 billion in federal education funding appropriated between fiscal years 2000 and 2003," he said in the release.
The report also shows the percentage of federal funds unspent by states is increasing as more and more federal money is pumped into the public education system, according to Blankenship.
His release did not specify what Wyoming's share of the No Child Left Behind surplus is nor how much federal education funding the state may be "sitting on."
Capital bureau reporter Bill Luckett can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at bill.luckett@casperstartribune.net.