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No Federalist Left Behind

How funny is it that the state that voted for Bush overwhelmingly (Utah) is threatening to junk all of No Child Left Behind. Read the Salt Lake Tribune here. What exactly happens if the state repudiates the statute? I suppose Bush could be like Eisenhower and send in the National Guard to force compliance on NCLB like Ike did "Brown v. Board of Education". But something tells me even Dubya is uncertain what to do. After all, once an exception is made with one state....the others shall be lining up to strike the law down.

But compliance without the means to coerce is equally divisive. The Federal Government through the Department of Education is not prepared to take over every American school. However, a national education program would not be the end of the world. But when you consider how big a chunk schools represent in each state's budget: that would be a tremendous expansion of federal government. And setting national standards or a curriculum still requires money unless you want another titanic unfunded mandate.

So don't be fooled. There is a strong possiblity this sort of exceptionalism by states will slice apart NCLB into a thousand parts. But it also will create an open question as to just what role the Bush Administration (and Congress) believes federalism plays in policy. Long eager to play fast and loose with the concept of federalism, the current Republican majority has run out of steam on the topic...at least in Utah.

And even if they resolve this dispute, there is still Medicaid, the current political widowmaker.
posted by Thomas at 11:58 PM 0 comments