AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine legislators close to education issues said Thursday they want to meet with the state’s congressional delegation to spell out their concerns about the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal law that caused about 120 Maine schools to be listed as needing improvement.

As the Education Committee met to discuss an array of issues, some members said they want to develop a unified summary of objections to the law.

“It isn’t necessary and it doesn’t work for Maine,” said Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, a member of the education panel. “If I had it my way I’d repeal No Child Left Behind.”

Brennan is introducing a bill for the 2004 session which bars the use of state money for the law and asks how much federal education money the state would lose if it opted out.

The House chairman of the committee, Rep. Glenn Cummings, said a key concern is whether No Child Left Behind is undermining Learning Results, the state law which sets goals for what students should know.

The fundamental question, said the Portland Democrat, is whether the Bush administration’s law is doing more harm than good in Maine.

The legislators’ comments came after Maine’s congressional delegation signaled it’s been hearing messages of concern from Maine officials about the law, which calls for expanded testing and greater achievement among students, especially those in poor districts. Sanctions can be imposed for some schools that don’t improve enough.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said she’s appointing a task force to assess the impact of the law. Task force members will include Maine school board members, education experts, principals, teachers and parents.

Fellow Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe asked U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige to respond to concerns from Maine teachers and educators about the goals and timelines of the law.

U.S. Rep Tom Allen, D-Maine, said the federal government has not funded the mandate sufficiently and introduced a bill requiring the General Accounting Office to report annually on the adequacy of funding for No Child Left Behind.

U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, is co-sponsoring the bill.

In Maine, more than 140 schools wound up on the list of underperforming schools when it was released in late October, but the list was later pared down to about 120 schools.

While the Bush administration has said it is investing record levels of money to implement the law, Cummings said it’s “very debatable” whether Maine is drawing enough federal money to cover all of the new expenses associated with it.

AP-ES-11-06-03 1603EST

Copy the Story Link