You asked for information on federal funding and implementation costs relating to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Connecticut received over $ 180 million in federal funding under NCLB for FY 2003-04. The attached table, submitted to the Education and Appropriations committees on March 1, 2004 by the State Department of Education (SDE), shows the breakdown of these federal funds, as well as the amounts Connecticut received under other major federal grant programs over the past four years.

Legislation (PA 03-168) passed by the General Assembly in 2003 requires costs that are attributable to the additional federal requirements of NCLB to be paid exclusively from federal funds received by state and local or regional boards of education under NCLB. The legislation also required the Education Committee to, on or before February 1, 2004, evaluate the estimated additional costs to the state and its local and regional boards to comply with NCLB and report its findings and recommendations, if any, to the Senate and House clerks, the State Librarian, and the Office of Legislative Research. However, there is no record of any such findings or recommendations.

SDE is currently unable to provide such an assessment as a result of the difficulty in determining which costs are directly attributable to the act. Public Act 04-254 requires SDE and the Office of Policy and Management to estimate these costs and report their findings to the Education Committee by January 1, 2005. To this end, SDE is working with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to determine how to conduct an accurate estimate. According to its website CCSSO is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U. S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues.

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