Senators OK 3 bills boosting education

Lawmakers gave the nod to a number of bills aimed at boosting pay for some educators, lowering class sizes, netting quality teachers for Utah's classrooms and extending the school year.

The Senate passed three bills Wednesday that would address some of the major woes of Utah's public education system — low pay, large classrooms and teacher shortages in math and science.

SB41, sponsored by Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, would allocate $32 million to allow three school districts to apply for grant money to modify their current nine-month school schedules.

And some lawmakers said the measure is "thinking outside the box" at it's finest.

"This is a great plan — what's amazing is that we haven't done this during the past," said Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan. "This comes close to being a no-brainer, and I don't know of any losers in this."

A $2 million grant would be awarded to a rural district with 5,000 or fewer students, $10 million would be given to a district selected that has fewer than 30,000 students, and $20 million would go to a district with an enrollment larger than 30,000. That money could go to anything from air conditioning to technology — anything related to the schedule conversion.

The grant provisions would require the districts selected to provide opportunities for teachers to increase pay by at least 40 percent. Students would still be attending school 180 days a year, but teachers would be teaching around 220. And buildings wouldn't be sitting empty for three months, something Stephenson said started due to the "19th century agriculture calendar."

Stephenson said on year-round or extended schedules, schools can serve more students with fewer teachers.

"I don't believe we can afford the luxury of three months of an idle education system," Stephenson said. "We complain we spend less per student in the nation but have the audacity to continue with an agrarian model for education — how many businesses would survive if they were idling operations for three months a year?"

The idea is once a few school districts make the switch, offering teachers 40 percent higher salaries, then other districts would follow suit just to be competitive.

With a similar aim in mind, the House unanimously forwarded an $8.3 million bill to let special-education teachers and speech pathologists earn an extra $2,000 apiece — up to 10 days pay — for time spent on non-teaching tasks, like paperwork. HB67 sponsoring Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove, R-Garland, said paperwork required of special educators — federal law requires individual education plans for each student — can drive professionals away.