The nation’s governors, who were noticeably absent when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act more than five years ago, are vowing to take a front-row seat as the law comes up for renewal this year….  Joan E. Wodiska, the director of the NGA’s education committee and the coordinator of the lobbying effort, said the governors are concerned about four key areas: increasing the support for teachers; giving states more flexibility on accountability; increasing funding; and giving states more say in which tests are used, who is tested, and what penalties can be used for poorly performing schools, for example…. The next step, she said, is to get a majority of governors—both Democrats and Republicans—to agree on policy recommendations….

One common theme emerged at the governors’ meeting: Though they agree with the fundamental components of testing and accountability at the heart of the NCLB law, many governors feel states need more flexibility and funding to see the changes through…. Disputes about the NCLB law are an example of the ongoing power struggle over what a number of governors at last week’s meeting complain are unfunded mandates from the federal government. Governors also complain that the federal government is interfering in what should be state-level decisions. … [A] number of them object to part of the Bush administration’s blueprint for the NCLB reauthorization that calls for the federal law to override state moratoriums on the expansion of charter schools….

Such debates come at a time when the governors are being pressured from all sides to make improvements in K-12 education, which takes up about 50 percent of states’ budgets. Around the country, for example, local education groups are pushing for increased school funding and taking their states to court…. Meanwhile, the federal government is bearing down on states to comply with the No Child Left Behind law…. But achieving consensus among the 50 states on how to improve the law won’t be easy. Many states have their own specific concerns about the act.

Michele McNeil, Education Week, March 7.