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House Democrats will try—though likely fail—to replace a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act that the House education committee is marking up Wednesday with a version of their own that includes early education.

The measure, which will be offered as a substitute amendment, is a complete departure from the bill Republicans are slated to clear through committee Wednesday and then through the full House the last week in February.

Notably, the Democratic proposal would create a new title for early-childhood education that would provide funding through a formula to states willing to match the amount. The federal dollars would be targeted to 4-year-olds from families earning below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

The proposal is essentially dead on arrival, but there are a few tidbits worth pointing out. In relation to the Republican bill, the Democratic substitute would:

Keep an annual testing requirement, but allow states to eliminate low-quality tests;

Require assessments to be based on student growth, not proficiency;

Require states to establish accountability systems that set performance, growth, and graduation targets for all students, including subgroups of students;

Eliminate the Title I portability language;

Alter the Title I formula to include actual teacher salaries in state aid calculations;

Restore maintenance of effort (which requires school districts and states to keep up their own spending at a certain level in order to tap federal dollars);

Restore “High Quality Teachers” (which means they must show they are competent in the subject they are teaching, hold a bachelor’s degree, and be certified in their states);