No Educator Left Behind is a series providing answers from the U.S. Department of Education to questions about the federal No Child Left Behind Act and how it will affect educators. If you have a question about No Child Left Behind, send an e-mail to Ellen Delisio, and we will submit your question to the Department of Education.

Question:

What will happen if states fail to have assessments in place by the 2005-2006 deadline?

U.S. Department of Education:

States have until the 2005-2006 school year to develop and implement the assessments required under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. A federal law enacted in 1994 -- ten years ago -- required states to adopt regular testing systems as a condition of receiving federal education funds. So states have been receiving federal aid to help them design and implement student assessment systems for nearly a decade.

NCLB permits the U.S. secretary of education to withhold an unspecified amount of state administrative funds from states that fail to meet the requirements in NCLB. Under previous law, the secretary was required to withhold 25 percent of state administrative funds from states that failed to meet the 1994 deadlines (or any deadlines contained in waivers or compliance agreements) for putting in place standards, assessments, and a system for measuring adequate yearly progress (AYP.)

Read previous questions and answers in our No Educator Left Behind archive.