The author maintains that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 brands good schools with "failing" labels, places the heaviest burdens on states that were already striving to meet challenging education goals, imposes inflexible rules, and fails to make good on promises to pay for programs that would help struggling schools meet the demands of the law. NCLB was passed with great fanfare and hope two years ago, but now is mired in complexity and is the cause of widespread concern. The author argues that a law that punishes a state that strives for excellence is perverse, and that is just what the NCLB Act is doing to the state of Maine.