"I regret that the NAACP and my office are on different legal sides when we share the basic goals of No Child Left Behind. I hope for an opportunity to discuss our common interests in advancing education and to pursue them together, as we have done constructively in so many other areas.

"I am determined to fight for Connecticut's children in forcing the federal government to keep its promise and fund the goals of No Child Left Behind. We support those goals - imposing accountability and closing achievement gaps, as well as raising achievement levels of all students - but the federal failure to properly implement and support them betrays our children and their education.

"Our action is based on a unique provision in the No Child Left Behind statute that forbids unfunded mandates. It affects no civil rights statute. It creates clear rights that we will enforce vigorously with support from a growing groundswell of school boards, parents, teachers and citizens interested in improving our state's educational system. Indeed, recent school board votes to support our challenge now bring the total number to 117. This support crosses geographical, political and socio-economic boundaries, including our largest cities and smallest towns all across the state.

"Our fight is to vindicate the rights of our children, who ultimately are the victims of unkept federal promises and inadequate resources resulting from unfunded federal mandates."