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March 15, 2004

Ohio hosts round one of Feds v. States on NCLB funding

During a congressional field hearing last week on the costs of the No Child Left Behind Act, federal lawmakers and officials said the law is adequately funded, while state and local officials say it isn't. An Ohio study estimated NCLB costs will rise to $1.5 billion annually, but researchers have disagreed on the figures. An editorial in today's Columbus Dispatch notes this impossibility of knowing how many students and schools will need intervention under the law, but that the federal government is coming up short in helping states. Speaking of federal lawmakers and officials, the Dispatch wrote, "They failed to make a persuasive case or present compelling evidence that states have enough money to comply with the law."

Fred Pausch, Ohio School Boards Association's director of legislative services adds, "The Bush administration and Ohio Congressman John Boehner have said there is plenty of money coming in from the federal government to fund NCLB. Well, the proof is in the pudding; we would like to see the breakdown of costs and the methodology the federal government has used to determine how much money NCLB will cost Ohio school districts. The federal government has come up with these mandates — does it know the cost? All Ohioans, especially the 1.8 million schoolchildren, as well as the local taxpayers in the state's more than 720 school districts, have a right to know."

Posted March 15, 2004 12:00 AM