ST. PAUL — Minnesota will gain more control over its schools if Congress approves a rewrite of the federal No Child Left Behind law, according to two Minnesota lawmakers who helped forge the deal.

U.S. Rep. John Kline recently led a bipartisan team of congressional negotiators that put the finishing touches on a compromise to replace the school funding and accountability act. The Minnesota Republican told the St. Paul Pioneer Press for a story published Sunday that it would eliminate tough federal mandates and penalties, and allow states to develop accountability systems that best fit their local needs.

“Those are huge changes,” Kline said in an interview. “We fundamentally shift that power and control from Washington, D.C., to the states.”

Signed by President George W. Bush in 2002, No Child Left Behind provides about $14 billion a year to schools that serve mostly low-income students while using high-stakes testing to try to ensure equal access to quality education. The overhaul would maintain required annual proficiency tests in math and reading, Kline said, but it would allow states to decide what tests to administer and how they use the test results to hold schools and teachers accountable.