Can schools land NCLB 'impact aid'?

Utah has a lot of federal lands that it can't tax to pay for public schools, which get the fewest dollars per student in the country. But now state school leaders think they can do something about it — through No Child Left Behind.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington is asking Utah's congressmen to tweak the federal education law, partly so school districts made up largely of federal lands can qualify for more "impact aid" under No Child Left Behind.

"The best I can gauge, it has the general support from government leaders in the state of Utah," Harrington said Thursday.

The idea resembles the concept behind former Utah House Speaker Marty Stephens' APPLE Initiative, pushed in 2002 to collect billions in potential revenues lost because of federal public land policies. It is being forwarded by rural superintendents and has been presented to Utah's congressional delegation, Sevier Superintendent Brent Thorne said Thursday.

"We have some counties ... where only 6 percent of their property is on the tax rolls," Thorne said. "At least we (might) get our toe in the door so they recognize the impact it's having on our rural districts."

The proposal is one of five NCLB changes Harrington has forwarded to U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, after talking with "hundreds of educators and educational stakeholders in Utah," states a Nov. 14 letter to Bishop. Bishop had asked for Utah's position on how No Child Left Behind, which is up for reauthorization in the next year or so, might be revised.

NCLB aims to have all students, regardless of ethnicity, income or disability, achieving on grade level by 2014. It requires states to publicly report whether any student groups are not meeting the mark — a sore spot with educators.

Utah lawmakers have challenged the law's reach into states' rights, and once threatened to forgo the program, which would lose the state more than $100 million in funding.

Harrington's document calls the law a one-size-fits-all model that's out of touch with rural America and special-needs children and is based on public humiliation, among other complaints. It suggests NCLB be changed to:

• Restore states' control over education.

• Require states to break down test results for student subgroups.

• Perpetuate quality teaching principles.

• Limit the role of the U.S. Department of Education to research, "sending billions of dollars back to states and schools."

The document doesn't mention accountability for student performance — the hallmark of NCLB. That omission has concerned some education bosses and researchers that the accountability movement would slide backward.