HARRISBURG -- A Washington County legislator wants Pennsylvania to join a lawsuit against the federal No Child Left Behind Act, claiming the law is unconstitutional and "an abysmal failure" for students and teachers.

State Rep. Peter Daley, D-California, said yesterday the state should join the suit filed last week by Connecticut against U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

Daley vowed to join the suit on behalf of his legislative district if he doesn't get the support of Gov. Ed Rendell and Attorney General Tom Corbett, neither of whom intends to get involved in the case.

No Child Left Behind, meant to improve public education by raising academic standards and expanding standardized testing, has been a cornerstone of President Bush's education policy since he signed the law in January 2002.

"Three years later, it's clear that the law is an abysmal failure," Daley said at a news conference here.

Connecticut sued the federal government last week, saying that the federal government has not provided it with the money needed to implement programs the law requires. It was the first state to sue the federal government over the law.

Daley said the law requires schools to meet rigorous standards without providing the means to reach them.

"[No Child Left Behind] sets unrealistic expectations that demoralize Pennsylvania educators as well as our students," he said.

Susan Aspey, of the U.S. Department of Education, said studies have shown there is adequate funding for states to implement No Child Left Behind requirements and called Daley's comments "regrettable."

"Filing lawsuits does nothing to help close the nation's staggering achievement gap, nor does it do anything to help teachers or students," she said.

A spokeswoman for Rendell, Amy Kelchner, said he won't sue over the law. She said Rendell supports the goals of No Child Left Behind but believes "the greatest flaw of [the law] is that it has insufficient federal funding to meet those goals."

A lawsuit, however, is a "very serious step" Rendell does not wish to take, she said.

Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley said his office isn't planning to join Connecticut's suit.

Jim Weaver, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, said the law's testing requirements are forcing districts across the state to focus only on testing.

States' dissatisfaction with the federal law is growing nationwide, said David Shreve, an education specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures.