Veto override sought on child behavior bill

PROVO — The Utah Eagle Forum is gearing up to lobby legislators to override the governor's veto of a bill that would limit what a teacher could tell parents about a student's behavior problems.

The bill was intended to keep teachers from suggesting a child might benefit from seeing a doctor or psychiatrist who might prescribe Ritalin.

Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka said her group will lobby lawmakers to override Gov. Mike Leavitt's veto.

"There is a lot of hope that they will do what is right, because (Leavitt) didn't do what was right," Ruzicka said.

"I never had a bill vetoed before. This was an experience," said Rep. Katherine M. Bryson, R-Orem. Bryson said she would encourage her colleagues to override the governor's veto.

Bryson said the bill was a response to the large number of Ritalin prescriptions being written in the state and reports of teachers and principals who have threatened parents with neglect charges if they didn't put their children on the controversial medication.

The bill went through four revisions, removing elements that would have made it a criminal offense to make the recommendation and allow teachers to raise concerns about behavioral problems.

But Leavitt said the bill limits communication between teachers and parents on behavioral matters and doesn't appear to solve a real problem in the schools, because its premise is based on "anecdotal case histories."

"Human judgment is constantly at play in decision-making, including what advice teachers give to parents," Leavitt said. "Ultimately, if a teacher makes a serious mistake in judgment, someone else's human judgment must intervene to correct it.

"I do not believe the Legislature is equipped to offer its own clinical judgment."

Bryson and Ruzicka said there was hard evidence from teachers who went to workshops on recommending drugs and parents who had state social workers on their doorsteps because they wouldn't put their children on the drugs.

Ruzicka said the bill received 66 votes in the House and 23 votes in the Senate, suggesting that it could be overridden. An override vote requires 50 votes in the House and 23 in the Senate.