WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) issued the following statement on Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today filing legal action against the U.S. Department of Education for imposing millions of dollars worth of illegal unfunded mandates under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The president’s budget for 2006 is $9.4 billion less than the $22.75 billion originally called for in the law. If the federal government does not fund the program, states will be forced to do so.

DeLauro previously raised concerns to the Department over provisions of NCLB that forced Connecticut to prohibit special education students from taking out-of-level-testing. Later this week, DeLauro will introduce the No Child Left Behind Reform Act.

“The No Child Left Behind Act was supposed to raise school standards and ensure student achievement. But since NCLB became law, it has been a huge disappointment to the teachers, parents and schoolchildren who have depended on this program to improve the quality of education in this country. Connecticut for example was forced to eliminate its successful out-of-level testing program – which the state administered for nineteen years – in order to comply with Adequate Yearly Progress under NCLB.

“And the Bush Administration has not maintained its commitment to students or teachers by shortchanging states on the federal funding required for NCLB to be successful.

“We need to maintain our commitment to education, which is why I intend to introduce the No Child Left Behind Reform Act later this week. This legislation will amend the law, providing states with more flexibility in measuring student achievement, allowing schools to target school choice and supplemental services to the students, and ensuring that NCLB's highly qualified teacher provisions are both rigorous and reasonable.”