In "Some schools excel, fail simultaneously" (Oct. 4), reporter Stacy Brandt exposed the no-win situation that our public schools have faced since the inception of "No Child Left Behind." State and federal assessment standards are contradictory and confusing, thus allowing some schools to succeed under state standards, while they fail under the federal provisions of "No Child Left Behind."

Every public school in the United States is guaranteed to fail under "No Child Left Behind" because of the impossible goal of having every child performing at grade level by 2014. Twenty high-performing schools in North County have already been classified as failures.

Some modifications have been made to "No Child Left Behind" without sacrificing the overall goals of increasing accountability and improving academic achievement. Clearly, more needs to be done. One of the most-needed changes is to waive the requirement that test scores for students with learning disabilities (that prevent them from testing at grade level) be included in determining the overall performance of a school. Many states track the progress of these students separately.

Rather than trying to correct the problem, Rep. Brian Bilbray offered an amendment that would have made it worse. He wrote Amendment H.R. 3613 (2007) to "No Child Left Behind" to require students with disabilities to participate in testing and require that their test scores be included in determining the overall annual yearly progress for schools even at the state level.

This summary of his amendment was written by the Congressional Research Service, a well-respected, nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress: "to require both the participation and performance of disabled children ... to be counted in determinations as to whether local educational agencies and schools are making adequate yearly progress toward state academic performance standards."

Why would he submit such an amendment? First, it impinges on a state's right to determine the best means of assessing academic performance in their schools.

Second, it places the same recipe for failure on our schools at the state level that has been a source of contention in "No Child Left Behind."

Mr. Bilbray's amendment undermines the students, teachers, administrators and parents of the 50th District and the United States who work hard and take pride in our public schools. It is a disservice to taxpayers and homeowners who invest in public education. Perhaps this is his way of promoting the use of vouchers. By accelerating the perceived failure of public schools, more students would be eligible to take tax dollars from our public schools to pay for their private school tuition.

It is imperative that our representatives make quality public education a national priority. Our students must be prepared with the skills and knowledge needed to compete in a competitive global economy.

That means we need to do all we can to support our public schools, not undermine them.

FRANCINE BUSBY lives in the Cardiff section of Encinitas and is a candidate for the Democratic Party's 50th Congressional District nomination.