State weighs turning away federal funds for schools

Iconoclastic Vermont is fomenting rebellion again.

It may become the first state in the country to refuse to accept federal education funding.

Behind the pique: the belief by state officials that it could cost more to implement new federal guide-lines on school testing than to accept the money.

The revolt here amid the rumpled Green Mountains symbolizes how states across the country are struggling to carry out new accountability standards that lie at the heart of the federal education reform movement.

As states from New Jersey to Nebraska prepare to implement what historians call the most extensive federal involvement in local education in the nation's history – the landmark "Leave No Child Behind" law – some educators and local lawmakers are worried about what that will mean in the classroom.

Even some once-ardent supporters are wary of how the law will translate in thousands of school districts with vastly different challenges and standards.

Of particular concern: The law requires each state to create its own testing regime – so those that set high standards could show high failure rates.

In states like Vermont that already have their own tests, many educators are stunned at the number of schools that would be deemed "in need of improvement." Vermont ranks sixth in the nation in test scores, but 30 percent of its schools would be considered "failing."

In states like Louisiana and North Carolina, as many as three-fourths of the schools may not make the federal grade. Once a school is ranked as a failure, mandatory remedies are required under the law. The federal government will pay for some, but not all of them.

The approach is fueling concern that this federal overhaul will have unintended consequences similar to the federal special-education law passed in the 1970s. It set large requirements and committed the federal government to paying 40 percent of the cost. Washington now pays 10 percent.

Vermont's governor, Howard Dean (D), who has become one of the law's most vocal critics, sees a direct parallel with the 1970s bill. "It may cost us twice as much as they're giving us, and there's no money to pay for it," he says.

Education officials in Washington say the alarm over the "No Child Left Behind" law is unwarranted. They note that many regulations are still being developed, and they're planning to work with states cooperatively, not in a "regulatory" way, as they bring about the transition over the summer. And the secretary of Education will have leeway on whether states face penalties.

They also insist there is plenty of new money. The federal education budget received record increases this year. It's now up to $49 billion. Just over half of that would pay for the new law, which, for the first time, also allows some flexibility in the use of federal funds.

"A lot of this is the understandable anxiety that comes along with fundamental change," says Undersecretary of Education Eugene Hickock. "There are also consequences for having things not improve – which is also new."

That may be new in Washington, but it's not a novelty at the Currier Elementary School, tucked in a rural valley of southern Vermont.

As a result of a state education revolution overhaul several years ago that was designed to improve overall achievement, Currier was targeted for extra help.

Its principal and staff overhauled their curriculum, brought in extra tutors, and increased the amount of testing. The bright cheerful school, with just 110 students, started to improve its overall test scores.

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