Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House passes resolution and companion bill to push back on No Child Left Behind implementation
Summary
The House approved a message resolution (HJR3) and companion bill (HB135) urging federal reconsideration of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) implementation and offering a framework for how Utah would interpret federal education provisions; sponsors said the measures seek to preserve state authority and address conflicts between federal programs.
The Utah House passed House Joint Resolution 3, a message resolution criticizing aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act’s reach into state education policy, and also approved House Bill 135, a bill intended to provide a statutory framework for how Utah will implement federal education programs in the state's interest.
Representative Corey Holdaway, sponsor of the resolution, characterized HJR3 as a message seeking to return more control over education policy to states and to draw attention to conflicts created by a "one-size-fits-all" federal approach. "We want to send a message to those in the federal government that Utah has a great education system and that we know best how to manage that education system," Holdaway said.
Representative Margaret Dayton and Holdaway explained that HB135 would create an implementing statute to sort conflicts between federal provisions (for example, when NCLB and IDEA create inconsistent assessment requirements) and to enable local officials, parents, and the state board of education to make determinations in students' best interests. Dayton noted an expected peer-review requirement tied to NCLB that the state could decline to address under the bill and said the peer review would cost about $450,000 and take several months if pursued.
Members debated the message nature of HJR3 and whether it risked federal funding; Holdaway and others said they did not expect funding loss and framed the resolution as drawing attention to state concerns. The House recorded votes sending both the resolution and HB135 to the Senate (HJR3 passed 66–0; HB135 passed 73–0).
