SPRINGFIELD -- After nearly six years, the federal No Child Left Behind Act comes up for renewal. Teachers and lawmakers hope to change the law that has made schools more accountable.

President George W. Bush pushed Congress to strengthen and reauthorize the law, which requires every child to be learning at grade level in math and communications arts by 2014.

The law is a mixed blessing for educators. On one hand, they say it does hold them accountable for what happens inside classrooms. On the other hand, they say, it sets up every school to eventually fail.

Test scores released this week show for classrooms across America show test scores, in general, are going up. In Missouri, fourth and eight graders showed big gains in math test scores. Those gains are exactly why Bush is pushing for the act’s renewal.

“So my call to Congress is: don't water down this good law; don't go backward when it comes to educational excellence,” said Bush, in a speech.

School district superintendents across Missouri are concerned about what renewal of this law could mean for their classrooms. Willard Superintendent Kent Medlin and other superintendents met with U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt in January to talk about what renewal would mean for kids in southwest Missouri.

Most of the superintendents supported changing the policy to evaluate kids on how much they progress, not whether they reach a benchmark.

Many superintendents worry that setting benchmarks is also frustrating to students, especially those in special education who are on personal education plans for a reason. They feel expecting them to perform to grade level isn't reasonable and sets those students up to fail and get discouraged with learning.