Concerned about President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins created a task force to examine its effects.

The findings are in, and they aren’t a surprise. No Child Left Behind falls short on its goals by placing unrealistic and unfunded mandates on the state.

The study, led by former Commissioner of Education Leo Martin and University of Maine Associated Dean of Education Anne Poller, identified 26 trouble spots in the law that need to be addressed.

According to the report, many provisions in the law just do not make sense in Maine’s mostly rural education system built around small schools, it doesn’t differentiate between mainstream and special education students when measuring achievement and improvement, and the law places an unrealistic burden on students and teachers.

Snowe and Collins said they would take the report back to the U.S. Department of Education and work to reform the law when it comes up for reauthorization.

The intent of the law – to hold students and teachers accountable and to raise standards for all students – is worthy. But without changes to the law and additional federal funding, those goals can’t be accomplished.