Legislators say they won't opt out of 'No Child' law

State lawmakers still don't like No Child Left Behind, but they won't try to opt out of the federal law and the more than $100 million it brings.

Rather, Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, will carry a bill in the 2005 Legislature directing Utah schools to follow state rather than federal accountability laws whenever there's a toss-up between the two.

Meanwhile, Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, will carry a sort of companion resolution saying Utah will use its own U-PASS accountability system to meet NCLB requirements.

"While we all agree education should be accountable, the question is, to whom?" Dayton said in a Wednesday press conference, surrounded by lawmakers and education officials. "We want to focus on local control."

Details were still being hammered out. The bill could be made public by year's end.

More than a dozen states have debated legislation decrying NCLB, but Utah last winter stood alone in seeking to opt out.

That bill passed the House and a Senate committee. But Dayton pulled it for study after federal officials flew in to discuss probable fallout — mainly, losing more than $100 million, much of which helps students in poor neighborhoods.

Dayton doesn't want to jeopardize federal funding.

But she's tired of what she calls federal encroachment on state responsibilities in public education. NCLB dictates school accountability, spending, and pulls education bosses away from their jobs for meetings.

Utah education officials don't like NCLB's focus on failure, rather than progress. Nor are they fond of its all-or-nothing approach — all groups of students, including those with disabilities, must have enough kids taking and doing well on math and language arts tests or the whole school fails to pass federal muster.

"That, to me," said Provo's Amelia Earhart Elementary principal Rosemarie Smith, "is immoral."

Utah holds schools accountable for student achievement under the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students.

State education leaders say U-PASS and its many tests meet NCLB requirements and better show students' academic growth.

The State Board of Education last week voted to ask the U.S. Department of Education to let Utah use U-PASS in place of NCLB.

Holdaway's resolution states Utah will monitor schools' achievement through U-PASS until NCLB is amended and the feds give enough money to ensure all students can meet its standards.

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