One of two bills questioning Utah's participation in the federal No Child Left Behind Act unanimously breezed through the Utah Senate without debate Friday.

HJR3, sponsored by Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, would have Utah use its own testing and school accountability system, U-PASS, until the federal law is amended and adequately funded. It now goes to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. for his signature.

"This, I think, just sends the message to Congress that if public education is a states issue . . . we should utilize our own system of accountability" until the law changes, bill sponsor Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch, said.

The similar HB135, sponsored by Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, could come before the Senate — its final legislative hurdle — as early as Monday. That bill gives Utah educational goals priority over No Child Left Behind, particularly when it comes to directing resources and doing what state education leaders believe is best for students.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington cheered HJR3's passage, which she learned about while in Washington, D.C., for a National Governors Association education summit on high schools.

"I suspect there will be pretty active talk about (the bill) at the summit," said Harrington, who also plans to "have an active dialogue" with U.S. Department of Education officials Monday.

No Child Left Behind aims to have all children, regardless of race, income or disability, reading and doing math well by 2014. The goal is laudable but unreasonable to implement, Utah leaders say.

On the other hand, Utah school bosses say the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students, or U-PASS, meets and goes beyond NCLB requirements.

U-PASS requires that students take a number of tests, including writing exams and a high school graduation test, to hold schools accountable for student achievement and focus on the academic growth or help they need.

Utah is asking the federal government to use U-PASS to meet NCLB's academic progress rules, a move Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, indicated he would support.

"If we can get them to back off on the testing and evaluation issue, we can make some progress," Bennett said in a Friday visit to the Utah House.

So far, however, the feds aren't hot on the Utah proposal, Harrington said.

So for the present, Utah will use a dual U-PASS/NCLB system, Harrington said. Progress reports going out to parents will focus on U-PASS tests, and in the bottom corner will state whether the school made "Adequate Yearly Progress" under NCLB.

That move would be strengthened if both HJR3 and HB135 are signed into law, Harrington said. HB135 also would give her the green light to gather costs of implementing NCLB and the effects on the public school system. She would present the information to lawmakers down the road.

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