Still, legislators never officially amended out the more unconventional sections, according to meeting minutes. What was submitted by IIE is what was approved, the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel reported.

Walker vetoed the budget line item, saying the Legislature can't tell a state agency with whom to contract.

Some, including Fila, also wonder whether lawmakers read it.

A handful contacted about the proposal had trouble recalling its unconventional methods — perhaps, Stephenson said, because they thought those parts had been taken out.

But Stephenson defends the unconventional methods nonetheless. "If parents agree for their drug-addicted children to receive that kind of treatment as a pilot program for those students to turn their lives around, then I think it is appropriate (tax dollar spending)."

Few educators apparently understood what the proposal entailed. The state superintendency discovered the unconventional references, which are by no means hidden, at the Legislature's end — more than a month after the proposals were placed online for public purview, and the Education Interim Committee, which Stephenson co-chairs, approved them.

A question looms:

"How," said associate state superintendent Patrick Ogden, "could this have been approved?"

Lawmakers' blessing, however, may not have meant anything.

Stephenson notes the proposal never had the force of law, and stood only as a recommendation. Even if it weren't vetoed, he said, state education leaders probably never would have implemented it.

The proposal nevertheless lives on.

Lawmakers continue asking why the state won't implement the plan. Last month, some were furious the State Board of Education wants to seek bidders for their own competency-based education model. "Why reinvent the wheel?" some asked.

Meanwhile, IIE aims to keep the proposal in the public eye. Its conference, held today and Tuesday "to highlight the programs contained in our Legislative proposal," according to IIE's Web site, includes the detoxification and nutritional supplementation program. It will be held at Eastmont Middle School, 10100 S. 1300 East in Sandy.

New State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington will attend.

"I've heard the presentation only briefly in the legislative rooms, and an even briefer presentation at our office, so I'm anxious to hear it and really understand and digest it," Harrington said.

Others are less enthusiastic.

IIE's flyer lists Jordan and Weber school districts as conference co-sponsors, which the districts say is false. An irritated Weber curriculum director Jeff Stephens says the district was never even approached.