Not too long ago W’s Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, tried to make nice to the states and tell them she would be flexible on the rules of No Child Left Behind (and let them keep their federal cash) if they would go along with the plan and not raise a fuss. Fortunately, there are a few states which are not buying into her extortion scheme.
Utah, Texas, and Connecticut (home of anti-Americanism) have all decided they would rather fight than hand over control of their schools to the federal government. The folks in Utah are especially noteworthy since the battle out there shows that this is not a conservative vs. liberal conflict.
"The paramount question is who runs this show: Is it state and local government or Washington?" says state Sen. Thomas Hatch (R) [Utah]. "Are we going to let the federal government contribute a very small percentage of the education budget and dictate what we can or cannot do, or are we going to maintain control at the local level?"
Very good question!