Connecticut has challenged the federal No Child Left Behind law, saying it does not have $50 million to test elementary students every year.
The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District court in Hartford, Conn., by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, is the first filed by a state in a series of legal challenges to the federal law.
Blumenthal challenged the federal law as being "rigid, arbitrary and capricious" in requiring the state to test students in grades 3-8 every year instead of every other year.
The challenge is "legally very strong" since No Child Left Behind specifically bans the government from imposing unfunded mandates, University of Southern California law professor David Cruz told the New York Times.
A U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman contended funding for annual testing had been provided.
Maine was weighing whether to join the suit or file its own.
In April, the National Education Association challenged the law on behalf of schools in Michigan, Texas and Vermont.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
