Huntsman urged to ax 'Ritalin bill'

The State Board of Education is asking the governor to veto the so-called "Ritalin bill," which members fear would impede schools' ability to work with children.

The board also voted Friday to ask Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to not sign — which still lets the bills go into law — two charter school bills it feels run afoul of its legal duties. And it will write a letter of concern that HB249, Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships, resulted in a special education budget cut.

The board seeks a veto of Substitute HB42, sponsored by Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork. The bill prohibits school workers from recommending a child use psychotropic drugs.

A similar bill passed three years ago, and the state board sought a veto and got it.

"This will have a big, chilling effect on our ability to help students in schools," board member Laurel Brown said. The bill also duplicates an existing board rule.

The board also took shots at HB136, sponsored by Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, and Substitute SB178, sponsored by Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper. HB136 allows a charter school to give enrollment preferences to children who live within two miles of or in the same city as the school. Attorney Carol Lear, coordinator of government and legislative relations for the State Office of Education, said the bill violates requirements that students be selected by lottery, jeopardizing federal funds.

SB178 lifts limits on the number of charter schools the State Charter School Board can approve and says charter applicants can't be denied out of fear they would financially impact a regular public school or cause its enrollments to decline, among other regulations.

The state school board fears SB178 steps on its constitutional duties to oversee and ensure vitality of the entire public education system.

HB249 offers about a $5,500 voucher for parents sending special education students to private schools. The bill was supposed to be paid for out of general — not school — funds. And it was. But legislators say it also requires that per-student funds going to public schools be reduced if voucher students will no longer be in public schools.

The Governor's Office already has expressed concern with the matter.

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Contributing: Tiffany Erickson

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com