Opting Out of NCLB? Why Bother? (NCLB News)

This week's assortment of NCLB pro- and con- seems particularly pungent, thanks in part to the combination of Education Next's exploration of why states haven't seceeded from NCLB (Where Have All the Dollars Gone?) and Utah's second flirtation with doing just that: Battling Washington, Legislator plans to challenge feds' No Child Left Behind rules (Salt Lake Tribune).

Elsewhere, pretty much everyone seems to have caught onto the game-playing over the last two years on AYP calculations that affect school ratings: Rule changes help schools stay ahead (Wall Street Journal), Defining failure down (Gadfly), as well as friendly modifications in definitiongs of highly qualified teachers: Pa. Outlines Teacher-Test Alternatives (Education Week), Teacher purge misses uncertified substitutes (Chicago Tribune).

Meanwhile, over in sky-is-falling-ville: NCLB Imperils Minority Hiring, Group Asserts (Education Week), Curtain Call (NEA Today ), Tests of Youngest English Learners Spark Protest (Education Week), and Schools pass, but law fails districts (Chicago Tribune).