Utah ed bills may rattle D.C.

"We feel like we made substantial progress on gaining flexibility . . . (and) reaching our goals and the objectives of No Child Left Behind," said Bridgewater, who, with the State Office of Education, has negotiated with federal officials for the past week. "To date, we're very optimistic we will succeed in the lion's share of those objectives."

This isn't the first time Utah lawmakers have confronted Washington.

U.S. Department of Education officials last year paid Dayton a visit regarding her NCLB opt-out bill. Dayton eased off, and the bill went to interim study because it could have cost the state $106 million in federal funding.

It's uncertain whether giving priority to state goals under HB135 would affect federal money coming to Utah. The prioritization could pull Utah from NCLB compliance and jeopardize the money, Harrington acknowledges. But she also believes Utah's educational system is on solid ground in meeting NCLB.

Dayton notes the bill actually could save the state $450,000, which Harrington's office would use to outsource preparations for Utah's NCLB review.

Harrington says the review extends into testing and other details under her, not federal, purview. The review will require boxes worth of documentation, and Harrington doesn't want to pull Utah officials off current duties to gather it all.

"(The time and money) could be used to improve student achievement in our state," Harrington said. "This is federal intrusion. The state runs public schools. My accountability is to the State Board of Education, the state Legislature and the governor. I shouldn't have the additional piece of the federal government on top of that."

The U.S. Department of Education did not return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com