N.C. Joining the Chorus of Protest About "No Child Left Behind"

North Carolina education leaders, including the Secretary of Public Instruction Mike Ward and members of the State Board of Education, will board a bus Wednesday to visit Washington, D.C., to bitch about "No Child Left Behind." They'll be meeting with the state's congressional delegation, mainly Republicans. Said Howard Lee, chairman of the state board, "This is an attempt to establish dialogue and give our representatives insight into the challenges we're facing." (Raleigh News & Observer story here.)

Mainly, the N.C. officials want permission to use the state's own accountability system -- known as the ABCs of Public Education -- to meet the national standards. But the guys on the bus Wednesday are also carrying three pages of specific complaints about problems with "No Child Left Behind," lack of federal funding to carry out the testing mandates being very high on the list.