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Today's special session may tackle split in Jordan

I wonder who is getting a kick back on this by wanting to push this through so fast. Somebody is getting something out of this when so many other areas are going to get hurt. Such a shame. And still not every one is going to get to vote. Shame on politics and politicians.

Walker said she was frustrated and disappointed in the county, saying the county's action Tuesday could fuel another bill to bypass county approval for the Jordan District, at least. Thanks again to the Utah State Legislature for giving our school children a lesson in democracy. If your a legislator and the local governments don't do what YOU want them to do, you just bypass them and write a new law to get what you want. Just to refresh me, this law that the legislature has already passed was to provide for more local control of schools (as long as you do it the way the legislators want you to). I for one would like to see the constitution amended so that the legislature only meets every other year, that would lessen the damage that they could do. I have a novel idea for them to consider, how about slowing things down, thinking them through carefully studying the issue, and heaven forbid, listening to ideas that might be different than their own, then passing legislation. You are seeing the problem with one party holding absolute power in all branches of state government.

Our legislature has been working for several years now to improve our public schools. One critical issue is school district size. The desire is to get the larger districts back to more manageable sizes but funding of new schools is standing in the way.

This session will require courage as the funding of new schools has been a mess for years in Utah. Why? A wise real estate broker and his powerful lobby created the problem by outlawing impact fees for new schools and now we are suffering the consequences. The legislature is finally addressing the issue. Kudos!

Construction equalization is probably unconstitutional if done via property taxes. The legislature should find other ways to help with the costs of new schools.

Henry's law is a bad idea - especially for a first offense. Otherwise some kid some where is going to be guilty of it and be convicted of a felony. That would then prevent him from (a) voting, (b) holding public office, and (c) holding an executive position in a public corporation. How does that make any sense? No need to make any changes here - a misdemeanor offense is sufficient.

1. This bill raises no new capital funds for any district in Salt Lake County.

2. It raises the property taxes for Granite District taxpayers (at least $11 per $250,000 assessed value) for the sole purpose of lowering the tax burden on taxpayers in the Jordan School District. Enrollment growth estimates questionable.

3. The proposal does not appreciably mitigate the additional tax burden that would be created for the Remaining District by a division.

4. It appears that a special legislative session has been called to pass a bill that does not take effect for two years. Why not wait to create a bill creating effective state-wide capital equalization?

Unfortunately the legislature is NOT addressing impact fees. Are you kidding? The Utah Board of Realtors is such a powerful lobbying group, plus there are many realtors in the legislature. There absolutely should be impact fees for developers! We need to all get on that bandwagon.

Although I have voted mostly Republican, I am changing. I think we do need more balance in the legislature and more democrats in office. The State Republican Party is a bully. First the Real Stadium and now school district splits. I am tired of the Republican leadership in the legislature bullying other people.

Dennis, several points. First, equalization, at least in its current form, is not the answer. If you want true courage, ask your legislator to suggest they bring back impact fees, and see how far the real-estate lobby lets that idea go!
Second, the Small Districts Coalition's own research indicates that district size in and of itself is far less relevant to effective education than school and class size. A smaller district is their answer to supposedly not getting their voices heard, although the GSD board says no one from SDC ever called them to complain about anything.
This is all too much to digest in a 1-day special session. Let's do it in January.

The "equalization" bill that lawmakers will consider would require the school districts in Salt Lake County to pay into a building construction fund. Another lesson in the Utah legislatures interpretation of the constitution. This seems a lot like a certain group of people along time ago who were opposed to the collecting of the taxes in one place, and sending them to another place to be used by those people. I think they ended up having a little tea party, and said something about "no taxation without representation".

The "equalization" bill that lawmakers will consider would require the school districts in Salt Lake County to pay into a building construction fund. Another interesting lesson in the unique interpretation of the constitution by our Utah Legislature. I believe there was a group a bit over 200 yrs. ago that became frustrated with the government taxing them and then taking their money for other people in the kingdoms needs. I think they even had a little tea party. And they were screaming crazy slogans like "no taxation without representation" I sure hope we don't have any tea parties out in the Great Salt Lake

I want to know why the west side is not allowed to vote on the splits! What makes us unable to vote? We have more students and should be able to give our opinion just like the east side! That's outrageous!

I hate to rain on your tea parties more, but are you all aware that school construction money has no oversight? Each school district decides HOW they're going to spend the money with no input from a state agency. They could decide on an elaborate new design instead of a copy of an existing school which would save a ton of money. They could sign contracts with contractors without a guaranteed maximum price(which is not recommended) but unless the local citizens are staying informed you would never know. Also there are no penalties for the procurment codes that would possibly be violated. There are laws already on the books with no penalties, so no That means if a local school district breaks any state procurement codes they would barely get a slap on the wrist. It's hard enough keeping track of your own school district's construction projects, let alone another district miles away that your hard earned money is paying for.

Let's be real here about one thing...OUR CHILDREN. As parents and community members we need to get involved, be at meetings, make the phone calls and assure ourselves a vote on such an impotant matter. Shame on our local government for once again putting money and power first. GET BUSY MAKING COMMENTS, WRITING LETTERS, AND STAYING ON TOP OF THIS ONE.