The Last Best Place

Montana just faced down the federal Department of Ed...and won.

Note that it was somewhat on a technicality, as Montana hadn't reset their numbers in 2005, so the fed is letting them do that this year instead. Nonetheless, Montana's numbers are not going to what the fed said they should for 2011. An analogy one hopes Secretary Duncan can get from State Superintendent Juneau:

If the game of basketball operated like NCLB, every student, despite her or his athletic ability or interest, must make the team; and then, the only way a student can score points is by a slam dunk," she wrote. "Under NCLB rules, free throws don't matter, lay-ups don't matter, three-point shots don't matter, assists don't matter, and rebounds don't matter. Only the slam dunk matters. And, over time, the basket keeps rising in height.