The 2001 federal law requires public schools nationwide to improve standardized test scores annually for all racial and demographic groups.

High-poverty schools that don't meet federal standards for two consecutive years must pay transportation costs for students to transfer to higher-performing schools. Extra tutoring and other services are mandated in each successive year of shortcoming.

Federal officials recently eased up on North Dakota's teacher-quality requirements under No Child Left Behind.

Utah policy-makers want the same treatment.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Education are expected in Salt Lake City next week to negotiate with legislators, state schools Superintendent Patti Harrington and representatives of the governor's office on disagreements over how the sweeping federal law should be applied in Utah.

In the past, the feds have denied state leaders' requests that state teacher- and school-quality standards suffice for standards spelled out in No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

"The goal is to have a substantive discussion, and we hope to come to some kind of resolution," said Tim Bridgewater, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s deputy for public education.

Utah legislators and school leaders have long complained that NCLB diverts dollars and energy from state education policies and priorities.

Rep. Margaret Dayton is sponsoring a measure that would give Utah's school system permission to buck those mandates. For example, a district might opt to offer tutoring instead of transportation for transfers.

Last year, the Orem Republican proposed opting out of the law altogether. The legislation drew national attention and a visit from federal officials, who said the state would lose $106 million for not complying.

That was enough to sink the bill. Dayton, Bridgewater and others hope that a change in administration at the education department will net a different outcome this time.

Where former Secretary of Education Rod Paige maintained a "no exceptions" policy toward states' requests for waivers, current Secretary Margaret Spellings has pledged greater flexibility.

Among the top issues on Utah officials' minds for next week's discussions is the department's recent determination that state standards for veteran elementary teacher quality fall short of the law.

NCLB requires that all core classes to be taught by teachers certified as "highly qualified" by the 2005-06 school year. The law defines core classes as language arts, math, science, economics, history, geography, civics and government, foreign languages, and fine arts.

The easiest way for teachers to meet the federal standard is to have an educator's license and a major or advanced degree in the core subject they teach.

Most grade-school teachers in Utah and nationwide hold degrees in early childhood education or elementary education, but not a core subject. Utah tried to get around that by declaring elementary teachers highly qualified if they had been teaching for three years and earned positive evaluations from their principals.

The feds said in a November visit that Utah's criteria is not sufficient.

But last week, the department reversed a similar ruling it had made on North Dakota's teacher-quality standards.

The ruling came after the upper Midwest state's congressional delegation - pressured by constituent groups - pressed federal officials to approve existing teacher-quality criteria, said Gary Gronberg, an assistant state superintendent in North Dakota.

"They went to the department of education folks and tried to say it again louder, I guess, but whatever happened, happened at that level," he said. "We did not expect a reversal."

The change gives Utah leaders hope.

"We expect something similar," Bridgewater said.

rlynn@sltrib.com