Help for students struggling to pass the high school basic skills test and for elementary schoolchildren making the leap to more advanced math concepts might be on its way via vouchers and teacher merit pay — a policy twist that's not sitting well with state education leaders.
Meanwhile, an "Education 1000" initiative unveiled Tuesday seeks to hire 1,000 new instructors and offer $2,000 in bonuses to all teachers.
Both initiatives would, most likely, tap the half-billion-dollar surplus in income tax revenues.
House Majority Whip Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, is drafting HB181, which would contain $16 million for vouchers and merit pay and change the law on firing teachers.
The bill would include $6 million to provide a voucher to high school seniors needing help to pass the Basic Skills Competency Test, a requirement of a full high school diploma. The voucher would come after the student passes the test. Students could seek help from any willing provider.
The bill also would set aside $10 million for merit pay for fourth- through sixth-grade teachers in Title I schools whose students show a years' worth of growth on the state's math CRTs, the tests showing how well students understand the state core curriculum. The money would come for a certain percentage of a class advancing a full grade level — even if it is not yet to the level the state desires for that age.
The bill also would look at termination provisions so it would be easier to fire "absolutely the worst teachers," Urquhart said.
"I'm interested in paying for outputs rather than paying for inputs," Urquhart said Tuesday. "We've put a lot of money into public education — far and away the biggest expenditure the state has. There's already a lot of seed money in teaching students the basic things they need to know. Some teachers are going to do what it takes to get the job done."
Improving math instruction on fourth- through sixth-grade is a top Utah Board of Education initiative.
"But the math initiative we had talked about is a math initiative that would provide for professional development for math teachers, fourth through sixth grade," board chairman Kim Burningham said. "That's what we advocate."
The board has taken no position on the voucher concept, initially pitched by Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, Burningham said.
The Utah Education Association also is cautious about what's being dubbed an education reform "omnibus bill."
"It's unfortunate that an education reform bill has never been through an education committee, hasn't had input from the education community, and we haven't seen the bill," UEA President Pat Rusk said. "How could I possibly comment on it?"
House Budget Chairman Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, proposes the "Education 1000" budget initiative, in which teachers would receive a $1,000 one-time bonus, a $1,000 on-going bonus, and 1,000 teachers would be hired statewide.
"Something like this would make sense in a year when we have a lot of extra money on the table," said Bigelow, who unveiled the initiative in the House Republican caucus Tuesday. He did not ask for a position from the caucus but only "wanted to get us talking about something besides the size of a tax cut."
Education 1000 would cost more than $80 million — about $40 million for hiring and $22 million for each of the bonuses.
This year, legislators are working with a $342 million surplus in on-going education funds, which would be used to fund the new teachers and the on-going bonus. They also have $276 million in one-time education funds.
The biggest concern from Republican representatives was that there is not enough classroom space for all of the new teachers hires. Funding new buildings — such as 1,000 new classrooms — may eliminate one of the other proposals, however.
"We can't do everything this year," House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander said. "If we want more classrooms, we may not be able to do the other things. Or we could hire the new teachers and then ask the districts to step up and provide more classrooms."
The idea interested Burningham and state associate superintendent Ray Timothy.
"Anything we can do to enhance the profession and ensure we're able to retain quality teachers and reward the job they do is commendable," Timothy said.
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