Community arts and science groups have something to offer Utah's schoolchildren, but the State Office of Education wants to get a handle on how groups are selected and the content of what they present in the schools.
A proliferation of groups that want to share in state funding for education activities has caused some concerns among education leaders. In the 1994 legislative session, the issue became more pronounced when several University of Utah programs sought - and got - funding to help them provide programs to schoolchildren.State Superintendent Scott W. Bean objected to this "end run" that took $100,000 out of the education budget without approval of the State Board of Regents. He suggested that Gov. Mike Leavitt veto the line item, but the money stayed intact. It was divided among the university's Pioneer Memorial Theatre, Red Butte Arboretum, Natural Arts Museum and Fine Arts Museum.
Friday, Bean met with representatives of many arts and science groups and told them he would propose a new funding mechanism to the Legislature during the 1995 session. He will ask for $200,000 to $300,000 to fund grants to the organizations on a competitive basis.
For some years, major arts groups have received line-item allocations to help them provide programs in the schools. For the 1994-95 school year, a total of $1.7 million was appropriated for Utah Symphony, Ballet West, Utah Opera, modern dance, visual arts and the Hansen Planetarium.
The value of high-quality arts groups in the state should be recognized as an economic development issue, and the Legislature should be willing to provide some funding for the groups on that basis, aside from the education question, Bean said.
Small arts and science organizations have been frustrated that they are essentially excluded from state funding for what they believe to be programs of equal quality.
"We have comparable education programs, but we haven't been able to get any of the money," said Sam Gappmayer of the Salt Lake Arts Center. He was not convinced that the smaller groups would have any better chance at funding under Bean's proposal.
"We have been frustrated in the past at who has got the money and expect that they would still get it. New groups can't break in," he said.
Fred Adams, spokesman for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, also complained that he has never been able to persuade the Legislature to provide funds for him to take aspects of his program to the schools, although he has tried for years. He said 37,000 Utah students did receive educational services last year but partly through subsidization from Nevada, which allocates some money to the festival to serve its schools.
Bean suggested that grants for specific arts programs, designed to support Utah's core curriculum and meet particular needs such as teacher training, could be for a period of three to five years.
Several of the arts representatives, including Adams, said, however, that they would have a difficult time hiring personnel and setting up school programs if the funding was not assured over a long period of time.
Utah has a clear plan for arts education, and the contributions of outside groups should be "controlled by what schools and districts want, not by what your particular group has to offer," said Bonnie Morgan, curriculum specialist in the State Office of Education. Even though program of-fer-ings may be excellent in their own right, they should correspond to the state's identified education needs, she said.
Legislative fiscal analysts Mike Kjar and Marlowe Dayley, who deal with the education budget, agreed that the contributions of community groups should be cur-riculum-driven to facilitate the education of students.
Bean asked members of the arts groups to volunteer to help the education office develop criteria for granting money if the Legislature buys his plan for a single funding pool.