As Utah prepares for the fallout from its new law giving priority to state education measures over federal No Child Left Behind regulations, a Hispanic advocacy group last week filed a related civil rights complaint over the quality of schools in the state.
The Salt Lake City-based Raza Political Action Coalition, or Raz-Pac, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office for civil rights, demanding an investigation into the achievement gap between Utah鈥檚 minority students and their white peers.
The complaint was one of several incremental developments in Utah and Connecticut that were part of ongoing controversies in those states around the 3-year-old No Child Left Behind Act.
On April 28, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a Republican, announced that he would form an achievement-gap task force to study disparities in Utah between minority and white students.
Then on May 2, Gov. Huntsman signed the controversial measure declaring that Utah education laws take priority over the federal law. The action could ultimately put at risk some $76 million in federal funding for the state. (鈥淯tah Lawmakers Pass Bill Flouting NCLB,鈥� April 20, 2005.)
In a prelude to Raz-Pac鈥檚 complaint, the group鈥檚 president, Robert Gallegos, wrote in an April 18 letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings that the Utah Office of Education failed to properly break down data that would have shown an 鈥渁larming dropout rate of ethnic students.鈥�
Mr. Gallegos also wrote that he was concerned that the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students, or U-PASS, which Utah is trying to implement, does not contain the same accountability provisions for minority students that are in the federal education law.
鈥淲e do not support Utah鈥檚 wanting to 鈥榙isregard鈥� the [federal] law鈥檚 accountability system in favor of Utah鈥檚 own system, which is one of the weakest in the country,鈥� Mr. Gallegos wrote.
Timothy A. Bridgewater, Gov. Huntsman鈥檚 education deputy, wrote in an e-mail last week that the governor鈥檚 task force would be 鈥渄esigned to focus on successful models for improving low-income and underperforming minority subgroups鈥� proficiency levels.鈥�
Connecticut Funding
On another NCLB front, Secretary Spellings told Connecticut鈥檚 top education official last week that the state should be able to carry out the law鈥檚 testing mandates with current federal aid.
The statement responded to claims by Connecticut officials that the state must spend $8 million of its own money to implement the law鈥檚 requirement to test students in grades 3-8. Connecticut now administers statewide assessments in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said he plans to sue the federal Education Department over the legislation, which represents, he contends, an unfunded mandate.(鈥淐onnecticut Pledges First State Legal Challenge to NCLB Law,鈥� April 13, 2005.)
In a May 3 letter to Connecticut Commissioner of Education Betty J. Sternberg, Secretary Spellings wrote that the state鈥檚 estimated cost of carrying out the testing provisions of the NCLB law was based on a more extensive testing regime than the law requires. She noted, for example, that Connecticut tests students in writing, which isn鈥檛 mandated by the law.
鈥淲hile these decisions are instructionally sound, they do go beyond what was contemplated by NCLB,鈥� Ms. Spellings wrote.
She also affirmed her earlier decision not to grant the state鈥檚 request to waive the law鈥檚 testing requirements for grades 3-8.
Ms. Sternberg countered, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e asking a state that鈥檚 ahead of the curve to fall back to a minimal level.鈥�
