AUGUSTA – Lawmakers could barely contain their fury as they grilled a U.S. Department of Education representative about a costly education reform law Thursday.

“The No Child Left Behind Act is standing in our way,” said Sen. Michael Brennan, a Portland Democrat.

For more than a year, Maine lawmakers have complained that the federal act costs Maine too much money, places unreasonable demands on school systems and will ultimately deem every school a failure.

The Education Committee met for more than an hour with Michael Sentance, a representative from the U.S. Department of Education, to discuss the demands of the new law.

After a 15-minute presentation by Sentance, which included a quick look at Maine’s national test scores and the increases seen in federal aid, legislators took over.

Some questioned why No Child Left Behind placed so many requirements on states but did not provide enough federal funding to fulfill them.

“It’d be great if you brought us the other kind of paper with numbers on it: money,” said Rep. Jeremy Fischer, a Democrat from Presque Isle.

Some questioned why Maine has not been granted a waiver when its own Learning Results provide state standards and assessments.

Others wanted to know why the law forces special education students to meet state standards although severe disabilities make it impossible for them to do so.

And others had more comments than questions.

“The biggest problem I see with the act is it’s designed for failure,” said Sen. Neria Douglass, an Auburn Democrat and co-chairwoman of the committee.

Some said they would love to dump the federal regulations if state lawmakers could find a way to do it without losing the $111 million Maine gets in federal education funding.

“I hope Maine is the first state in the country to opt out of No Child Left Behind,” Brennan said.

Taking each question and comment at a time, Sentance said the U.S. education secretary has no power to grant the state a waiver from the law. He said the federal government was looking at ways to adjust the law to accommodate special education students.

Aid has increased

And he pointed out that federal aid has increased by nearly 100 percent in five years and special education funding has increased 111 percent.

At least one legislator agreed with Sentance’s presentation.

“I see a lot of money, and I think the committee needs to look at how we take the money to the subgroups of students,” said Rep. Thomas Murphy Jr., a Kennebunk Republican.

He was shocked when Sentance said that eighth-grade test scores were static while other states had improved and that 29 percent of Maine’s high school teachers did not even minor in the subject they are teaching. “We’re moving in the wrong direction,” Murphy said.

But others weren’t so accepting.

“He was here to sell it,” Douglass said.

After the meeting, she said she hoped the federal government would give states more flexibility in the law.

“This has so many strings attached it’s like a lead weight,” she said.

Sentance said he would bring the committee’s comments and questions to officials at the U.S. Department of Education.

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