You're avoiding the question. First of all, most states HAVE "tackled" it prior to NCLB. I mean, the people who have graduated high school since 2002 are not a nation of retards.
Second, my question was which section of the Constitution authorizes the fedgov to be involved in education? You're a conservative, so surely you would not support something you found to be unconstitutional, right?
It's like putting a band-aid on a tumor, expecting that tumor to disappear.