Five candidates for state superintendent of public instruction agreed Thursday night that the federal No Child Left Behind law needs to be overhauled so it doesn't penalize rural states like Montana.

The controversial law, advocated by President Bush, drew no defenders at a forum sponsored by the Montana Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, School Administrators of Montana and Montana School Boards Association.

The law, seeking to improve student achievement, requires a series of annual standardized tests by which schools are judged.

"Our teachers are doing something they shouldn't have," said state Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, D-Glasgow. "They are teaching to the test."

The federal government has "a sinister motive" by providing money, but with more strings attached, he said.

Democrat Denise Juneau of Helena, Indian education director at the Office of Public Instruction, said any changes in the law will depend on who wins the presidency this year and urged the crowd of more than 50 people to vote carefully.

"It really is a harsh law," she said. "It comes with a lot of strings, and it comes with a lot of money."

Democrat Claudette Morton of Helena, a longtime teacher and education administrator, said she helped form a group of education advocates to work on necessary changes in the federal law.

"We must have flexibility," she said. "We must have a partnership between the federal government, the state government and the school districts."

Rep. Holly Raser, D-Missoula, a kindergarten teacher, said this law isn't likely to go away soon, and that people should try to make the best of one part of it -- the availability of test data broken down by school, race, gender and other socioeconomic factors.

"It's providing us some critical information," she said. "The achievement gap for American Indian students is heartbreaking. We need to address far more of our resources in closing that achievement gap. The good news is that achievement gap is decreasing."

Libertarian candidate Donald Eisenmenger of Helena said the law has not demonstrated it is achieving its goals of improving education in Montana or nationally.

"I would encourage all Montana (congressional) representatives not to renew No Child Left Behind," he said. "It is seriously flawed. If it is renewed, I would encourage Montana to drop out. There could be some financial consequences."

All five Democrats for state superintendent participated in the forum, along with the one Libertarian candidate. The lone Republican candidate, Elaine Sollie Herman, was invited but unable to attend.

Moderator Ian Marquand, special projects director for KPAX television of Missoula, asked candidates about the successful school funding lawsuit filed by a number of school districts and how each would work to improve school funding.

"The state is not providing its share for an adequate education for our students," Morton said, charging that Montana actually went backward in education funding under Republican administrations in the 1990s.

She said the Legislature created "a wonderful definition" for education adequacy and worked to create a school funding formula in 2005 but quit working on it then and didn't work on it last year.

Raser described herself as an advocate of Teddy Roosevelt's philosophy of speaking softly but carrying a big stick.

The legislator said she's "awfully glad we have the big stick of the lawsuit behind us" and pledged to bring education advocates together to work to improve the formula.

There will be increasing competition for less state money at the 2009 Legislature, Raser warned.

Kitzenberg said the next superintendent must think outside the box and find some new revenue sources. He was excited about for the possibility of the state leasing the Otter Creek coal tracts to an energy company, with revenue going to the state school trust fund.

Tracing the decline in state funding for public schools, Juneau said she would be "a tough advocate" fighting for an improved school funding formula.

"What is needed is strength," she said. "It depends on who gets elected to the Legislature. Make sure you get people in the Legislature who believe in public education because that's not what we had last session."

Eisenmenger said litigation isn't his preferred means of resolving issues. He isn't convinced that schools needed additional money, given how well Montana students perform.

"Overall, I would say given the results of the school system's performance, things are not as bad as some people would like to believe. Funding is never as much as some people would like."