Following months of study and heated input, a state task force has approved a bill to pave the way for school accountability.
But how much the bill would cost is up in the air.The Task Force on Learning Standards and Accountability OK'd legislation Monday that would require students take four statewide tests. Results and other school statistics would be made public under the proposed Utah Performance Assessment System for Students. The draft bill will be presented Wednesday to the Education Interim Committee.
The bill does not include grading, rewarding or punishing schools based on how well students do on tests, as teachers once feared. Those issues could be brought up next year, however, when the task force meets again.
"This is a good first step," said Rep. Tammy Rowan, R-Orem and task force co-chairwoman. "It shows we're being restrained. We're not rushing."
Education officials support the bill, so long as it's funded. But some acknowledge teachers probably won't like it.
"How this feels to teachers is like finger-pointing . . . not, 'here's some help,' " said Susan Kuziak, executive director of the 19,000-member Utah Education Association, adding she supports school accountability. "It doesn't really put any resources in the classroom."
UPASS would require the Stanford Achievement Test for third-, fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders, a writing test for sixth- and ninth-graders, and that all students take core curriculum tests and pass a competency test to receive a high-school diploma.
The bill offers a chance that some students' scores would not be used for accountability purposes -- such as those with disabilities, who can't speak English very well or change schools during the year. The State Board of Education would determine exemptions.
The bill also would require schools to report college entrance test data and others, including how many elementary students read at above grade level and time missed by students participating in extracurricular activities.
Such data is aimed at showing what's happening in schools beyond test scores. The task force next year will study other reporting possibilities, including parent surveys about school, volunteer hours and court referrals.
"If the bill is fully funded, if it is used to support classroom instruction and helps teachers assess where children are, then it has great potential to improve education in the classroom," said state curriculum director Bonnie Morgan. She applauds the task force for moving its focus from individual teachers to boosting achievement.
"That is a huge change in the tenor of the task force. I think the task force is coming around to support classroom instruction . . . (and) I cheer about it." But the cost of the bill and whether the Legislature will fund it remains a concern for some task force members and educators.
Concern grew after the Legislative Fiscal Analysts Office estimated the bill would cost some $20 million between now and 2006 -- $33 million less than State Office of Education estimates. The state has called for $7.7 million per year to develop, implement and maintain the proposed UPASS.
"We have some very substantive differences in figures," Steve Laing, state superintendent of public instruction, told the task force. "Unfortunately, we don't feel like (the analyst's) figures are accurate."
Deputy State Fiscal Analyst Mike Kjar said the numbers are based on information state education officials provided when a testing bill was debated last year. Kjar did not consult state education officials when drafting numbers because he had just two days to compile them.
Analysts rarely chime in on costs this early, but the task force asked for estimates, Kjar said. The numbers already are outdated because the task force tweaked the bill Monday. And Rowan says she won't even present them to the interim committee.
Still, Kjar hopes to meet with state education officials to hammer out new figures. State testing coordinator Barbara Lawrence believes "there's a good possibility we can come to some type of agreement."
But concerns remain. "We've put together what I consider to be a wonderful assessment program," said Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights. "But how much is it going to cost and how much do we have for education?"