State Legislative Reactions to No Child Left Behind: Education Leaders in Three States

Abstract

Abstract State Legislative Reactions to No Child Left Behind: Education Leaders in Three States This dissertation examines the historical background of federal regulations that have expanded over the past thirty years, and their impact on state legislative resistance to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The federal government's involvement in public education offers an instructive opportunity for inquiry into cooperative federalism. State resistance to NCLB provides an example for study when considering state reactions to federal regulations and ensuing intergovernmental conflicts in regard to public education. This study focuses on legislative responses to NCLB, with reactions from legislators from Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado. The investigation is drawn from interviews conducted with state legislators from these three states. Some common threads emerged from the interviews and from a review of the related literature. One includes the question of the constitutionality of NCLB and a power struggle that exists in public education between various levels of government. In light of state challenges to NCLB legislation, a number of consistent factors of resistance were evidenced by the states. These state legislative reactions offer significant insight for challenges facing future public education federal legislation, and may be useful as a model of study for examining state reactions in the years ahead.