In a bipartisan statement released Wednesday, all 50 state legislatures opposed President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. The statement issued by the National Conference of State Legislatures attacked the education program's unconstitutional extension of federal power in an area traditionally left up to state control and accused the government of coercing states into compliance. It also recommends essential changes in the measurement of student progress, the punishment for under-achieving schools, and guidelines for allowing waivers for struggling school districts. The NCSL also expressed concern that the education reform would further segregate schools and provide incentives for good teachers to leave needy schools. Republican state Sen. Steve Saland of New York, co-chairman of the task force that reviewed the law, compared it to a "weed" that has stifled state innovation. Co-chairman Steve Kelley, a Democratic state senator from Minnesota, said the federal government is right to target the achievement gap among poor and minorities but wrong to meddle with the states. [more]