The backlash against the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was raised to a new level when Connecticut's attorney general announced that his state plans to sue the U.S. Department of Education over the testing mandates in the sweeping federal law. In announcing his intentions, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he was inviting other states to join the legal challenge, which he said would argue that the law violates federal statute by forcing states to use their own money to carry out its testing requirements. Mr. Blumenthal said that the state would need to spend $8 million by 2008 to comply with the testing requirements of the law and that requiring a state to shoulder such a financial burden goes against a provision in the No Child Left Behind law. Others counter that Connecticut's cost estimates of the NCLB were "flawed," that Connecticut's students are suffering from achievement gaps, and that Connecticut is attacking a law that is designed to help students most in need.