Bernie Sanders, Vermont's independent senator, has a way of spotting issues that are ripe for a public pounding. He hit the mark again Tuesday when more than 100 people, many of them educators, showed up to his meeting to rail against how No Child Left Behind is playing out in Vermont schools.

The federal law is based on the sensible idea that all students must receive a sound education. In education, accountability is a must. We -- teachers, administrators, parents and the community -- fail our children when we allow them to go through school without mastering even the basics.

But No Child Left Behind gets it wrong from the first word, "No." That word says that failing schools will be punished rather than receive help to become better. Consequences of failure include allowing students to attend another school, an unrealistic option in much of the state.

The 2002 law required states to improve public school education in exchange for federal aid, and to measure a school's progress with annual tests on math and reading. The teachers and administrators told Sanders the law ties their hands in the classrooms, forces standardized tests on children too young to handle them and hurts struggling students.

Too often, the public focus is on whether a school failed or passed those tests. A mandate to improve schools loses meaning when the goal becomes boosting test scores instead of helping students learn. A too-heavy focus on standardized testing leaves little room to account for the individual circumstances of each classroom, each student.

No Child Left Behind works best when tests are used to figure out who needs what help. The accountability must start with making sure the students are offered the help. The key is to keep No Child Left Behind from becoming the final word on student achievement, teacher performance or school success.

Sanders knows how to choose a topic that hits home with Vermonters.