Corroon wants state to accept $101 million in education funds

SALT LAKE CITY — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Corroon and his running mate, Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, called for Gov. Gary Herbert to convene a special session of the state Legislature before next month's election to accept $101 million in federal education money. The two-term Salt Lake County mayor said waiting until after the Nov. 2 elections would waste valuable time and prevent school districts from accessing much-needed education funding.

"(The governor and Republican legislators) like to say, 'We don't like taking federal money,' so they want to wait until after the election to actually take it knowing full well they have to take it because our (public education) system needs it," Corroon said during a Sunday news conference.

The call received a pert rebuff from Herbert's office Sunday night. Don Olsen, a Herbert campaign spokesman, said there will be no special session until the Legislature and governor have a chance to look at the budget and understand what the real budget numbers are. That will allow the governor and legislators to determine the most effective way to spend the money, Olsen added. Olsen noted that Utah was among the first six states to request the federal money, a move initiated by Herbert.

Corroon and Allen said the money is needed to help control class size, for teacher development and to support maintaining the current number of school days per year. As to why the special session is needed prior to Election Day, Corroon queried rhetorically, "Why not take the money now?"

Allen described the notion of waiting until after the election so as to seem uninterested in accepting federal money as "pretty good political theater."

Olsen called the demand "another political stunt."

"It's a lot more responsible to make sure what your budget is before you start looking at these funds and the best way they can be used," he said.

Olsen said Herbert is committed to accepting the funding and will do so later in November. He also denied that doing so post-Election Day was motivated by politics.

"This is a matter of policy and doing right for education and for Utah school children," he said. "Politics is not going to drive this."

Contributing: Nicole Gonzales

e-mail: jlee@desnews.com