Education secretary Margaret Spellings said Utah students will be hurt in the long run. And while she did not threaten to immediately yank $107 million in federal money Utah receives for education, the results of noncompliance could cost the state, she said.

Thro believes state leaders are playing a game of chicken with the federal government: The loser will be determined by which one backs off first.

Thro couldn't predict Utah's fate. The state could end up in court, he said.

However, Connecticut may beat Utah to the Supreme Court.

The state is suing the Department of Education over NCLB, in part arguing that the federal government doesn't properly fund the policy. The case most likely will be appealed from a lower federal court to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and then, by 2008, to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is asked to hear 8,000 cases a year. It accepts one case in 100, Thro said.

"If the Connecticut lower federal court were to invalidate No Child Left Behind, the (Supreme) Court would almost certainly take it," he said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com