U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings won't visit Utah this week because of scheduling conflicts, the Governor's Office and U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a group working to address achievement gaps between white and ethnic minority students plans a Monday rally to keep that issue in the forefront as the Legislature prepares for a special session regarding No Child Left Behind's reach into Utah schools.

• Hatch and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s education deputy, Tim Bridgewater, last week said Spellings would come to Utah Friday to visit schools and meet with state leaders over No Child Left Behind issues.

"We're working on a schedule that works . . . (possibly) in early May to continue our discussions," Bridgewater said.

The visit would have preceded a special session of the Utah Legislature, set for early next week, where lawmakers will discuss a bill challenging the federal law's reach into Utah public schools.

"It's clear that the bill is going to pass at this point, so timing (of Spellings' canceled visit) is not an issue in that regard," Hatch, R-Utah, said in a prepared statement. "It's also clear, though, that Secretary Spellings is very eager to come to our state and listen to the concerns we Utahns have about the federal role in our education system. We had hoped to arrange that visit for this week, but for scheduling reasons, we just couldn't work it out."

No Child Left Behind has been a sore spot for Utah policymakers. The law requires all students, regardless of race, income or disability, to read and do math well by 2014. It labels schools where any group's test scores are subpar, or where not enough kids participate in exams.

NCLB has been likened to federal intrusion. State Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, last year carried a bill to opt out of it but backed off when federal officials said more than $100 million would be at risk.

This year, she carried HB135, which seeks to prioritize state resources on state education goals and direct state leaders to exhaust appeals for flexibility in implementing the 1,000-page law.

The bill received unanimous support until the final Senate hurdle, when legislative leaders and Huntsman's office decided to hold off until mid-April to see if the state could negotiate flexibility in implementing the law.

Utah is still looking for the green light to give immigrants more time to learn English before they're counted, plus use Utah's U-PASS system to meet NCLB requirements. Some flexibility on testing special education kids was granted nationwide last week.

• Meanwhile, the Utah Achievement Gap Coalition of university professors, educators and community activists plans a rally Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Riley Elementary, 1410 S. 800 West.