Leaders hold off passing ed bill

The state-federal fight over No Child Left Behind paused Tuesday as state leaders took their corner and set a new clock, counting down for the next round — the threat of a special legislative session.

The Senate, during the final day of the 2005 session today, is expected to hold off passing HB135, which gives Utah's education goals priority over No Child Left Behind.

Then, state officials, including sponsoring Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. — who has talked with President Bush about the matter — will try to work out a deal with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House on how Utah will put NCLB to work in its 800-plus public schools.

If they can't reach a deal, the bill will be heard — with certain approval — in a special session in April or May, lawmakers said.

"We're pulling the hammer back and we're counting to 10," said the bill's Senate sponsor, Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch.

The plan was announced by the Governor's Office late Tuesday.

"We're not going to let the issue go," Huntsman chief of staff Jason Chaffetz said. "We see signs of life. . . . We're willing to give that the benefit of the doubt."

House and Senate leaders, Harrington and bill sponsors say they back the action.

"Right now, we are right where we were at this time last year," Dayton said. "I would just as soon go forward with the bill right now . . . but I am respectful of the governor's request and his ongoing efforts in Washington."

But it was uncertain whether the Senate would leave the bill alone or debate it, but not take a final vote, before the Legislature ends at midnight tonight. Senate President John Valentine would make no guarantees.

"There are still a number of senators who want to debate the bill. And I have more than enough votes to pass it in its present form," Valentine said. "But we agreed as a Senate caucus to honor the request of the governor."

The issue surrounds Utah's plea for the federal government to loosen up regulations on how No Child Left Behind must be put to work.

No Child Left Behind aims to have all kids, regardless of race, income or disability, reading and doing math well by 2014.

Utah officials, however, say the federal yardstick is too inflexible.

They want to use U-PASS to meet the goal. U-PASS, the state accountability system, includes several tests (including those used for NCLB), publicly reports students' academic growth and is used to give strugglers the help they need. The state also has been working on a way to identify schools that aren't up to snuff.