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Education

NCLB Foe’s Trouble Could Impact Senate Race

By Alyson Klein — May 18, 2010 1 min read
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Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Attorney General who filed the lawsuit against the No Child Left Behind Act, is running into problems of his own in his bid to claim the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, a Democrat.

Blumenthal may have inflated his experience in the military, in order to give the impression that he served in combat during the Vietnam War, according to this New York Times story. He’ll be giving a press conference later on today to “fight back”, according to his home state paper, the Hartford Courant.

Why does this matter for education?

Well, up until this point, Blumenthal was considered a very safe bet to beat the likely Republican nominee, former Rep. Rob Simmons. So the Senate would have gained a lawmaker who doesn’t think it’s fair to impose education mandates on states without providing the authorized funds. That could have an impact on the debate over the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

But, depending on how Nutmeg State voter perceive this big mess, Blumenthal may not be such a shoe-in after all.