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MINUTES OF HOUSE EDUCATION
STANDING COMMITTEE
February 17, 2006
Room W135, West Office Building, State Capitol Complex
Rep. LaVar Christensen, Vice Chair
Rep. Duane Bourdeaux
Rep. John Dougall
Rep. James A. Ferrin
Rep. James R. Gowans
Rep. Gregory H. Hughes
Rep. Bradley T. Johnson
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss
Rep. Merlynn T. Newbold
Rep. LaWanna Shurtliff
Rep. Stephen Urquhart
MEMBERS ABSENT: Rep. Ron Bigelow
Rep. David L. Hogue
Rep. Kory M. Holdaway.
STAFF PRESENT: Constance C. Steffen Policy Analyst
Barbara Thomas, Committee Secretary
Dee S Larsen, Associate General Counsel
Note: List of visitors and copy of handouts are filed with committee minutes.
The meeting was called to order by Chair Dayton at 4:40 PM and appreciation was expressed to the public and staff for staying late on a Friday night for this meeting.
Rep. Moss gave a brief lesson on grammar.
Chair Dayton indicated that input from the public would depend on time taken by questions from the committee members.
H.B. 393 Public Education Club Amendments (Rep. A. Tilton)
MOTION: Rep. Newbold moved to delete in title and body H.B. 393 and replace it with 1st Substitite H.B. 393. The motion passed unanimously.
Rep. Tilton says the bill incorporates rules of the State Board of Education and local school boards that regulate school clubs into statute, so that if there is a legal challenge to a regulation, the Attorney General will defend the regulations.
The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
Nadia Kergaye, Brighton High School student
Camille Lee, East High School
Hal Newman, Hunter High Advisor
Steve Peterson, Utah School Boards & Superintendents Association
Chris Johnson, parent
Brandon Monson, Hunter High School student
Chris Cooke, Rowland Hall St. Marks student
L. Daniel Holsinger, Equality Utah
Eva Erickson, West High School student
Emily Pendleton, Hunter High School student
The following spoke in favor of the bill:
Steve Graham, Standard of Liberty
Paul Merrill, Sutherland Institute
Monica Gardner, Eagle Forum
Carolyn Wright, Provo School District Board
James Starr, University of Utah student
Gayle Ruzicka, Eagle Forum
Carole McGlothlin, Eagle Forum
Sharidean Flint, Eagle Forum
Vickie Peterson, Eagle Forum
Karianne Lisonbee, Eagle Forum
In response to committee members' questions, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the substitute bill is constitutionally defensible, and the bill does not outlaw gay-straight alliance clubs.
MOTION: Rep. Urquhart moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Rep. Bourdeaux, Rep. Gowans, Rep. Moss, and Rep. Shurtliff in opposition.
H.B. 184 Parent Choice in Education Act (Rep. J. S. Adams)
Rep. Adams presented HB 184 to the committee stating the bill creates a program to award
scholarships to students to attend a private school..
MOTION: Rep. Dougall moved to amend the bill as follows:
0. Page
3, Line 87 through Page 4, Line 112
:
87
As used in this part:
88
[[
(1) "Average student cost" means Minimum School Program costs divided
by total
89 student membership in public schools on October 1.
90
[[
(2)
]]
(1)
"Board" means the State Board of Education.
91
[[
(3)
]]
(2)
"Eligible private school" means a private school that meets the
requirements of
92 Section 53A-1a-805 .
93
[[
(4)
]]
(3)
"Income eligibility guideline" means the maximum annual
income allowed to
94 qualify for reduced price meals for the applicable household size as published by the U.S.
95 Department of Agriculture by notice in the Federal Register.
96
[[
(5) "Minimum School Program costs" means the sum of the following
costs:
97 (a) programs listed in Section 53A-17a-104 the costs of which are tied to the value of
98 the weighted pupil unit;
99 (b) the following programs listed in Section 53A-17a-104 :
100 (i) Social Security and retirement;
101 (ii) Local Discretionary Block Grant Program;
102 (iii) Interventions for Student Success Block Grant Program;
103 (iv) Quality Teaching Block Grant Program;
104 (v) at-risk programs;
105 (vi) accelerated learning programs; and
106 (v) K-3 Reading Improvement Program; and
107 (c) the state contribution to the voted and board leeway programs established under
108 Sections 53A-17a-133 and 53A-17a-134 .
109
[[
(6)
]]
(4)
"Parent" includes a legal guardian.
110
110
[[
(7)
]]
(5)
"Scholarship student" means a student who receives a scholarship
under this part.
111
[[
(8)
]]
(6)
"Tuition" means amounts charged for attending a private school,
excluding fees for
112 extracurricular activities or transportation to the private school.
0. Page 11, Lines 329 through 331 :
329 (3) Each transferred scholarship student meeting the criteria of Subsection (2) shall be
330 retained in enrollment:
331 (a) for five years following the transfer
or until the student would have
graduated from high school, if within five years of the date of transfer
; or
The motion passed unanimously.
MOTION: Rep. Christensen moved to amend the bill as follows:
1. Page 1, Lines 11 through 12 :
11 This bill:
12 . creates the
[[
Education Restricted Account
]]
Supplementary
Mitigation Fund
;
2. Page 1, Line 27 through Page 2, Line 28 :
27 Other Special Clauses:
28
[[
This bill coordinates with H.B. 294 by providing substantive
changes.
]]
None
3. Page 2, Line 45 through Page 3, Line 59 :
45 Section 1. Section 51-8-101 is enacted to read:
46 51-8-101.
[[
Education Restricted Account
]]
Supplementary Mitigation
Fund
created.
47
[[
(1) A restricted account is created within revenues collected by the state
from taxes on
48 intangible property or income. The restricted account shall be known as the
Education ]]
49
Restricted Account.
50
(2) The contents of the Education Restricted Account shall consist of monies
deposited
51
to the account pursuant to Section
53A-1a-807
.
52
(3) The Legislature shall appropriate money from the Education Restricted
Account for
53
the following purposes:
54
(a) to mitigate impacts due to a reduction in revenues resulting from the
transfer of
55
scholarship students from a school district to a private school pursuant to Title 53A,
Chapter
56
1a, Part 8, Parent Choice in Education Act;
57
(b) other public education purposes; or
58
(c) to fund the higher education system.
(1) There is created a restricted special revenue fund known as the
Supplementary Mitigation Fund.
(2) The contents of the Supplementary Mitigation Fund shall be the revenues deducted from school districts' minimum school program funds as provided by Section 53A-1a-807.
(3) The State Board of Education shall distribute monies from the Supplementary Mitigation Fund to a school district, if the school district demonstrates that the mitigation monies it receives under Section 53A-1a-807 are not sufficient to maintain its operations at substantially the same level as before its revenues were reduced due to the transfer of a student to a private school.
(5) Supplemental mitigation monies awarded to a school district may not exceed the amount of money deducted from the district's minimum school program funds pursuant to Section 53A-1a-807.
(6) The State Board of Education shall annually make a report to the Legislature on the distributions of money made from the Supplementary Mitigation Fund, including data on how the operations of each school district are impacted and the amount of money distributed to each school district.
(7) The Legislature may appropriate any remaining balance in the Supplementary Mitigation Fund at the end of a fiscal year not distributed or due to a school district for mitigation for the following purposes:
(a) other public education purposes; or
(b) to fund the higher education system.
4. Page 12, Lines 339 through 341 :
339 (5) the monies deducted from a school district's minimum school program funds as
340 provided by Subsection (4) shall be deposited into the
[[
Education Restricted
Account
]]
Supplementary Mitigation Fund
created in
341 Section 51-8-101 .
(6)(a) If the mitigation monies provided to a school district in this section are
not sufficient to maintain operations at substantially the same level as before its
revenues were reduced due to the transfer of a student to a private school, the
district may submit documentation of the impact to its operations to the State Board
of Education
(b) The State Board of Education shall distribute money to a school district from the Supplementary Mitigation Fund pursuant to Section 51-8-101 to mitigate the impacts on its operations, up to the amount of money deducted from the district's minimum school program funds pursuant to this section, provided the district reasonably demonstrates the need for the supplementary mitigation money.
5. Page 13, Lines 373 through 374 :
373 The legislative auditor general shall conduct a review and issue a report on the Parent
374 Choice in Education Program after the conclusion of the
[[
2012-13 school
year
]]
program's third year of operations
.
6. Page 13, Lines 380 through 388 :
380
[[
Section 14. Coordinating H.B. 184 with H.B. 294 -- Substantive changes.
381 If this H.B. 184 and H.B. 294, Creation of Education Fund, both pass, it is the intent of
382 the Legislature that the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, in preparing the
383 Utah Code database for publication, shall do the following:
384 (1) repeal Section 51-8-101 ; and
385 (2) modify Subsection 53A-1a-807 (5) to read as follows:
386 "(5) The monies deducted from a school district's minimum school program funds as
387 provided by Subsection (4) shall be deposited into the Education Fund created in Section
388 51-5-4." ]]
The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Hughes and Rep. Urquhart absent for the vote.
The following spoke in favor of the bill:
Latesia Anderson, Choice in Education
Emmalou Penrod, Choice in Education
Cindy Taylor, Principal, Heritage Foundation School
Kathy Tenney, Parents/Student of Color
Clint Kirry, Challenger School
The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
Delanie Hathaway, Utah School Boards
Martell Menlove, Utah School Supt's. Association
Pat Rusk, Utah Education Assocation
Joel Briscoe, teacher
Linda Simmons, parent
MOTION: Rep. Christensen moved to pass out H.B. 184 favorably as amended. The motion passed with Rep. Bourdeaux, Rep. Gowans, Rep. Moss and Rep. Shurtliff in opposition.
MOTION: Rep. Bourdeaux made the motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm.
_______________________________
Rep. Margaret Dayton, Chair