Ed measure called bad for Utah kids

The Legislature's swipe at No Child Left Behind could end up hurting Utah kids, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said Wednesday.

"Turning back the clock and returning to the pre-NCLB days of fuzzy accountability and hiding children in averages will do nothing to help the students who are currently enrolled in Utah's schools," Spellings said in a prepared statement issued Wednesday in response to passage of HB1001.

"States across the nation who have embraced No Child Left Behind have shown progress; student achievement is rising and the achievement gap is closing," she said. "The same could be true in Utah, whose achievement gap between Hispanics and their peers is the third-largest in the nation and has not improved significantly in over a decade."

But Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem and sponsor of HB1001, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington believe Utah children will be better served under the bill.

"I wish they'd quit defending a flawed law and have a dialogue with the state (school) chiefs," said Harrington, adding she never heard back on a January request to chat with Spellings. "NCLB is not about helping kids; it's about labeling schools, and sanctions and consequences, not . . . about improvement."

The barbs are the latest in Utah's more than yearlong state's rights battle with the U.S. Department of Education. The challenge came to a head Tuesday when Utah lawmakers, trumpeting state sovereignty, passed HB1001, which prioritizes Utah education goals over the federal law.

Spellings had warned Monday that while the bill itself would not yank Utah out of NCLB compliance, resulting actions could jeopardize $76 million in federal funds, mostly going to low-income schools.

NCLB aims to have all kids, regardless of race, poverty or disability, proficient in reading and math by 2014. The idea is to close long-standing achievement gaps between whites and minorities, the haves and have-nots.

But Utah policymakers complain about NCLB's pass-fail labeling of schools if a single group of kids isn't up to snuff.

"When a child has a broken leg, we don't say, 'You stupid child, shame on you,' " state assessment chief Judy Park said. "I'm concerned we identify schools appropriately and fairly and we identify the right schools."

The state believes U-PASS does just that.