Stage Right: NCLB

As lawsuits challenging the so-called No Child Left Behind law make their way through the federal courts, anti-NCLB activism has taken the stage—literally.

In Connecticut, the same state that seeks to compel the federal government to cover the state’s cost of complying with NCLB (and accuses the feds of acting in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner in denying waivers for flexibility), a theater ensemble has produced a critical play about the education law.

The play, “News To Me,” produced by an independent, community theater group, seeks to show how the take-no-prisoners law affects students. In it, students are given the opportunity to create a TV program, and they use it to report on disparities in the law.

The curtain also hasn’t set on the real-life judicial dramas surrounding NCLB. Although a federal judge in Michigan decided late last year to dismiss NEA’s “unfunded mandate” suit, NEA President Reg Weaver has promised to appeal. In Connecticut, a separate lawsuit is still pending. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Depart-ment of Education has filed a motion to dismiss. Connecticut ’s State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said, “[Secretary Spellings’] argument defies common sense, fairness, and public policy—not to mention the law.”