The suit, filed on Wednesday, seeks to ensure that the 2001 act means what it says: The federal government will cover states' cost for enacting NCLB.

"Does it really mean that we are not required to spend any state or district funds to fulfill the mandates of NCLB?" said UEA President Pat Rusk, who announced her group's participation in the suit.

And Rusk said that she and her fellow plaintiffs hope the suit will prohibit the U.S. Department of Education from withholding funding from states - $76 million is at stake in Utah - that refuse to comply with NCLB.

The UEA joins in the suit with its parent organization, the National Education Association, and school districts in Texas, Michigan and Vermont.

DOE spokeswoman Susan Aspey said in a statement that the lawsuit was "regrettable."

A statement from the national educators' group said the federal law aimed at improving test scores is underfunded by $27 billion.

The bill passed by Utah lawmakers on Tuesday puts Utah's education priorities ahead of NCLB mandates and authorizes state educators to ignore provisions that conflict with state priorities or that cost state dollars.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Wednesday said he will sign the bill, probably next week. He said he would continue efforts to lobby the federal government for flexibility under NCLB.

Principals and district officials who oversee Utah schools with high percentages of English-learning and low-income students are anxious about the threat of losing federal funding.

"I cannot believe that [Utah lawmakers and the UEA] are gambling with $270,000 of Title I funding" that Jackson Elementary School in Salt Lake City receives, said Principal Shawna Wilde. If that money disappears, she said, six teachers will lose their jobs.

JoEllen Killpack, the research and evaluation specialist for the Salt Lake City School District, said, "It's going to be really severe" if the feds cut funding.

mcronin@sltrib.com

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Tribune reporter Thomas Burr and Bloomberg News contributed to this story.