Taking on the bully

There's good reason to support President Bush's No Child Left Behind law. First, it raises academic standards in the nation's public schools, which is certainly a good thing; second, it encourages a generally uniform method of grading so that comparisons between different school systems and states will have some degree of meaning.

But we're also in sympathy with the state of Connecticut, which is suing the federal government on grounds the NCLB amounts to an unfunded mandate. Unfunded mandates are when Congress passes expensive laws but won't pay for them, thus forcing states and localities to come up with the money.

For a long time, this was a popular Washington sport. Congress was applauded for passing great new laws, while states and localities took the heat for raising taxes to fund them. But the worst features of unfunded mandates were supposedly reined in by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, spearheaded by the late Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., and signed by President Clinton in 1995.

The measure requires the Congressional Budget Office to analyze bills that are expected to cost state or local governments $50 million or more, or the private sector $100 million or more. When the CBO determines pending legislation would exceed those amounts, Congress is required to show where the appropriations will come from, or offset the costs somewhere else.

There are some technical conditions under which the CBO findings can be overruled by a congressional point of order, but even then the reform act requires federal agencies to consult with state or local governments before moving ahead.

Connecticut officials, including the Republican governor, contend that consultations and negotiations with the feds broke down; consequently, No Child Left Behind has become, for them, an unfunded mandate.

We think Connecticut has a point. There are heavy expenses associated with NCLB, and most of them are picked up by states and localities. It's time the courts look at this tussle between Washington and the states.

The federal government, whether it's run by Republicans or Democrats, often is a terrible bully - and it's not just with unfunded mandates. Congress stretches the Constitution's interstate commerce clause beyond all recognition to force policies on the states. And it also uses federal matching funds to make the states do what it wants: If states don't pay up, then Washington won't give them their fair share of federal funds.

This form of extortion, which would never be tolerated in the private sector, is what's driven Medicaid costs through the roof. Eventually, of course, taxpayers pick up all the tabs.

In any event, every state across the nation will follow the Connecticut suit against NCLB with keen interest. It's not hard to figure out who they - and taxpayers - will be rooting for. Hint: It won't be for the schoolyard bully.