The lawsuit, which officials said was the first of its kind to be brought by a state government, asks a federal judge to declare that the federal government cannot require state and local money be used to meet federal testing goals.

''The goals of the No Child Left Behind Act are laudable,'' Blumenthal said. ''Indeed, Connecticut has pursued these goals for decades, but the federal government has failed in implementing them.''

Utah state Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, on Monday said she is aware other states, such as Maine and Kansas, plan to sue.

"But that's not on our agenda," said the chairwoman of the state's House Education Committee. During its spring special session, the Utah Legislature passed a Dayton bill that gives preference to Utah's education standards in cases where they conflict with federal regulations. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed it into law May 2.

Utah has applied for a half-dozen waivers from various parts of the law, including one that would allow progress among special education students to be measured individually, rather than testing them based on their grade level.

The state's waiver requests have been pending for months.

Utah officials could abandon No Child Left Behind testing requirements in favor of the state's own testing regimen, known as U-Pass. That action could cost the state up to $116 million in federal education funding.

Connecticut's Blumenthal announced plans for the lawsuit this spring, after the state was repeatedly denied waivers to avoid some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind, which aims to have every student in public schools proficient in reading and math by 2014.

Connecticut's chief complaint with the law has been testing. The state, which has been administering its own mastery test for 20 years, wants to continue testing every other year. The federal law requires annual testing, and federal education officials have repeatedly denied the state's requests for leniency.

''This mindless rigidity harms our taxpayers, but most of all our children,'' Blumenthal said.

Standardized testing in grades three, five and seven is scheduled to begin this school year.

A recent report projects that the state will be $41.6 million short in paying for the law's requirements through 2008, but federal officials question that estimate. A state law prohibits state money from being used to pay for the law's requirements.

The nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association, joined with school districts and union chapters across the country to file a lawsuit this year challenging the law. Connecticut's union chapter is part of that lawsuit.