A Rebellion Is Quelled

State, federal officials repair relations.

Nebraska’s state schools chief issued a rallying cry late last month to his colleagues in other states, urging them to join a rebellion against the U.S. Department of Education. But for now, at least, federal officials seem to have quelled the rising tide of complaints from state education leaders.

On May 22, Nebraska Commissioner of Education Douglas D. Christensen e-mailed the top education officials in at least 25 states, citing a “lack of partnership, flexibility, … and basic disregard for the work we have done as chiefs and as states to implement” the No Child Left Behind Act, the sweeping,...