Education-reform bill is passed by the House

A $20 million education reform bill that includes merit pay for math scores and a voucher for Utah Basic Skills Competency Test help passed the House Wednesday.

Substitute HB181, sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, was touted as doing positive things for schools.

It makes it easier for school districts to fire the few really bad teachers in their ranks.

It gives $7.5 million in vouchers, ranging from $500 to $1,500, depending on the score, to high school juniors still struggling to pass the UBSCT, which is tied to a high school diploma.

And it puts $12.5 million into a pilot to improve fourth- through sixth-grade math test scores, where districts could pitch their own programs but half the money has to go to merit pay.

But Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, proposed a substitute bill would have included only a $10 million math pilot, sans merit pay.

"We have three separate issues not related to one another that should be debated," he said.

But colleagues disagreed. They voted down his proposal, then passed the bill, despite lobbying to the contrary by the Utah Education Association, which views the bill as rife with potential abuses.

"You just saw political maneuvering at its best," UEA President Pat Rusk said. "They totally ignored what the education community has told them would be good for kids."