School standards may shift

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington says that among other goals she wants to ease the tension between Utah and the U.S. Department of Education over No Child Left Behind. But state officials say regardless of continued threats, changes could be on the horizon.

Since the beginning of March, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Harrington and other state education leaders have met with federal officials to negotiate changes in the requirements of NCLB.

Harrington recently received a January-dated letter from the feds in which threats of yanking federal funds continued to loom if Utah does not comply with the federal education law.

But Utah Education Deputy Tim Bridgewater said he's optimistic that it doesn't necessarily represent the current thinking of federal officials after numerous talks with state leaders.

"We are optimistic that the (U.S.) department has heard our concerns, and within the next two weeks we think the department will make some major changes based on what we've asked for and for what other states have been asking for," said Bridgewater.

NCLB aims to have all children, regardless of race, income, English skills or disability, reading and doing math proficiently by 2014, a goal some Utah leaders call poppycock.

Utah officials want to use U-PASS, the state's accountability system, to meet NCLB goals. U-PASS uses the same tests as NCLB and looks at academic progress, not just whether students earned a specific test score.

Utah also wants to be the one to decide whether its teachers and administrators are "highly qualified." The U.S. Department of Education in recent weeks let Utah's teacher licensing standards suffice, rather than send scores of elementary schoolteachers back to college.

But rules for other teachers, such as special education and those teaching several different subjects in small, rural schools, remain under negotiation.

Last month, the Legislature put on hold a bill that gives Utah's 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.

The idea was to give more time for negotiation. But if Utah isn't pleased with the outcome, the Senate will debate, with certain passage, HB135 in a special legislative session.

Tuesday the Education Interim Committee will meet for updates from forums and negotiations.

"I personally would prefer to put state standards in place," said Kim Burningham, chairman of the State Board of Education. "But I would like to believe that there is a way to find a middle ground rather beating each other over the head."

Bridgewater said he would describe his perspective as "ardently optimistic" but said there is still no certainty at this stage that Utah's proposal will be accepted.

"I would say, flexibility from the department is coming," said Bridgewater. "If that flexibility is enough for Utah to have our system U-PASS be the acceptable standard in its current form or some modified form going forward — that is what our objective is."

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