The Utah legislature is seriously considering a bill which tells the federal govenment to keep both their money and No Child Left Behind. There have been a few school systems that have done the same thing but this is the first state I’ve seen where the politicians are actually willing to vote on the issue. Of course, not everyone likes the idea and it doesn’t seem likely the state will forfeit $103 million. But the response to the possibility from the Department of Education is interesting.

Federal officials said state lawmakers should not be so quick to blame Washington for their qualms with No Child Left Behind. After all, the state Office of Education designed the tests, set the passing scores and developed the other measures used to comply with the statute, said Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education.

Hey, Utah! Take the money and then do what many other states are doing: "adjust" the tests and the passing scores so enough kids pass to make the feds happy (not to mention the kids and their parents).