Bush Administration Fines Texas
by TChris
Apparently secure in the belief that Texas will forever be a red state, the Bush administration slapped the state for defying the mandates of the administration's signature piece of legislation: No Child Left Behind.
For the last two years, the Texas Education Agency has exceeded the federal cap on how many students with learning disabilities can be exempted from regular state testing, mandated by the act, in favor of an easier exam.
To quash the defiance, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings fined Texas $444,282 yesterday, a relatively small chunk of the state's $1.1 billion allotment of federal education funds, "and a sliver of the state's $33 billion annual public education budget." That letter imposing the fine was released yesterday evening, the administration's favored time for disclosing unpleasant news.
Texas isn't standing alone in its rebellion.
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