"The real problem here is the inability for people to sit down and reason together," said House Majority Assistant Whip Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace. "When we have a board that certainly has statutory obligations and relationships with the Legislature refuse to attend ... those of us trying to do things for public education are hampered by that kind of attitude."

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington said key players in the matter were tied up — Burningham was on a business trip in California, Lear teaching at Utah State University — and Hill had just returned from vacation and didn't have enough time to prepare for this "potentially litigious matter."

In a phone interview, Burningham said the board also wants to have a "rational, unemotional, nonconfrontational" meeting with Attorney General Mark Shurtleff before meeting with lawmakers.

The issue came to a head in the debate over a law giving a $500 to $3,000 government voucher for private school tuition, which now will be decided by voters in November.

The state school board didn't implement a second voucher law, HB174, which they viewed as an amendment that could not stand on its own. They asked Shurtleff to answer questions in the matter.

Shurtleff considered the request as seeking an official opinion. Under the law, that means the board would have to follow the directive, assistant attorney general Bill Evans said.

Should the board disagree with that opinion, they can ask the courts for a declaratory judgment, he said.

Instead, the board took the advice of Hill and Lear and opted not to implement the bill. After the attorneys filed a brief in a Utah Supreme Court case — taking a stand contrary to Shurtleff's opinion — he stripped them of special assistant attorney general status.

A Utah Supreme Court ruling shortly afterward ruled HB174 couldn't stand on its own anyway, reflecting Hill and Lear's opinion.

Still, the board's move was risky and unadvisable, Hintze said. But a reprimand, which some Republicans wondered about, is unlikely.

"My general reaction is once the court has spoken," Evans said, "that would put to rest most of the controversy whether they were acting improperly or not."

Some legislators, however, believe the board was not flouting the law.

"I don't feel we have a state board down there trying to circumvent their duties," said Rep. Lou Shurtliff, D-Ogden. "I think they did what they did thinking it was for the good of the schools."

The committee wants to further discuss the matter, but after the November election to take the politics out of the discussion, Stephenson said.

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com