Critics have long complained that getting all students to proficiency under the federal No Child Left Behind law is as wild a fantasy as Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon, “where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all of the children are above average.” (Forget that we’re only really talking about reaching a standard that is actually set so low than none of us would ever accept it as a gold standard for whether or not a child has been adequately educated.)
News from Keillor’s home state of Minnesota today suggests that Republicans in the State Legislature are now planning to burp up a case of Schmidt’s all over the federal law. Minnesota is a huge local-control state and the Leggies will need to decide whether or not it is worth it to cut the state’s public schools off from some $250 million per year in federal funding.
Democrats in Minnesota also haven’t been thrilled with the federal government’s involvement, but aren’t (yet) scrambling to get behind the Republican NCLB revolt.