MINUTES OF THE

Note: A list of others present and a copies of materials distributed in the meeting are on file in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

1. Call to Order - Sen. David Steele called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. He introduced Sen. Dan Eastman who has been appointed to replace Sen. Lane Beattie and has been assigned to serve on the Education Interim Committee. Sen. Beattie resigned from the Senate in July.

2. Education Task Force Reports - Rep. Jeff Alexander and Sen. Howard Stephenson, Co-chairs of the Task Force on Learning Standards and Accountability in Public Education, distributed and reviewed a list of study items from HB 177 enacted in the 2000 General Session and which were initially developed in the 1999 learning standards and accountability study. Reference was also made to a section in HB 177 requiring school districts to uniformly report assessment data.

Sen. Stephenson explained that a subsection of H.B. 177 requires a direct writing assessment in grades 6 and 9 beginning in the 2001-2002 school year. He said writing assessments are expensive to develop and implement, and those costs are covered through the legislation. The bill also requires, beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the use of student behavior indicators in the assessment of student performance. He explained that the current focus in the task force is on performance standards and accountability.

Rep. Alexander said the task force currently is discussing the value of student mastery levels and has heard testimony and gathered mastery data from a variety of groups within the education community. He said the task force has met with the Utah School Superintendents Association to discuss the philosophy of value-added student progress and teacher development. The chairs explained that the goal of the task force is to provide for accountability in school districts and schools and the classroom.

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, Senate Chair of the Funding of Public Education Task Force, gave a brief summary on the progress of the funding task force. He said public education has been given numerous federal mandates which are not adequately funded. He explained that one-time money appropriated by congress to initially fund these ongoing programs may not receive further appropriations from subsequent legislative bodies. He said the primary state revenue sources of income and sales tax to fund public education have been thoroughly reviewed and discussed by the task force. Utah has the highest demand of any state for both public and higher education services. He said the unique challenge for all education committees and task forces is to determine how to meet the budgetary needs of public education, and to identify the sources of revenue required to meet those needs.

Ms. Susan Kuziak, Utah Education Association, said that funding public education and school performance standards have been discussed extensively during past months by both the task force on accountability and the task force on funding. She felt the efforts of both task forces should be folded together.

The chairs of the Applied Technology Task Force were unavailable to discuss progress made by this task force during the summer months.

3. Quality Teaching and Leadership - Rep. Tammy Rowan and Mr. Steven Laing, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, gave a presentation prepared by the Milken Foundation on quality teaching and leadership. Part of their presentation included viewing a video which proposed that teacher's needs could be met through motivational rewards and modified schedules that allow teachers time for professional development.

Mr. Laing explained that the Milken Foundation recognizes outstanding teachers by providing an annual $25,000 award. Rep. Rowan reviewed the key elements of the Milken quality educator model which includes: (1) multiple career paths; (2) market-driven compensation for teacher placement based on where they are needed most; (3) an expanded pool of high-quality teachers; (4) performance-based accountability; and (5) on-going applied inservice training for professional growth. She said an estimate has been made that any school could achieve the positive outcomes of this program with a 4 % increase in its overall budget. She suggested the State Board of Education work with local districts to select 4-5 newly-opened schools and hire teachers who would be willing to model the program. She explained that the Milken Foundation has the expertise to make the program work, regardless of the school setting. She said the Milken website contained tools that could determine how the program might work in any school within the state.

Mr. Laing explained that approximately 20 teachers from Utah attended a recent Milken conference where they discussed ways this model might work in Utah schools. Rep. Rowan emphasized that the Milken program is comprehensive and should be adopted in its entirety rather than implemented on a piece meal basis. Mr. Gary Carlston suggested the Milken plan has organized those principles that the Utah education establishment typically adheres to and made it central to its education plan.

4. FACT Report and Sunset Hearing - Ms.Terry Johnson, State FACT Coordinator, (Families, Agencies, and Communities Together for Children and Youth at Risk) distributed and reviewed two documents, "Legislative Review" and "Utah Child Well-being Indicators," which were prepared by her office. She explained that the FACT initiative consists of three parts: (1)

Site-based programs serving prenatal children until age six; (2) Local Interagency Councils (LIC) serving children with multiple, severe, and enduring disabilities until age 18; and (3) Community Development programs initiated through the needs, wants, and desires of a community. She explained that among the 20 state services provided to Utah families, physical and mental health services are needed the most. She noted that LIC's are established in every county in the state and continue to serve children.

Ms. Johnson explained that state law requires collaboration between state and local agencies, but public, private and voluntary agencies actually meet community needs. She said local programs lack adequate funding to pay for parent advocates who help families. She felt the greatest need for program improvement is soliciting input from parents, public and private sectors. She mentioned the success of FACT in the use of appropriate confidentiality procedures.

Ms. Johnson said, because of its strong collaborative initiatives, FACT was awarded a $7 million, five-year grant from the Danforth Foundation to improve mental health services in highly rural communities. Of the $7 million received three years ago, approximately $1 million has been spent annually to bring people together to plan and collaborate. She said the first phase of funding was spent primarily on per diem for planning sessions, training advocates, evaluations, and services provided by parents and for a home visitation program. Ms. Johnson explained that future initiatives will include funding for parent advocates, reorganization of community steering committees, improved communication with local initiatives, and collaborative interventions in high risk situations. She said these funds are flexible and can be used to pay for services usually not covered by other agencies, i.e., work shoes, uniforms, car repairs, etc. She said a base line is in place and after another year, through the help of indicators, FACT should be able to show data of services rendered.

Ms. Johnson explained the importance of following TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) clientele after their time with FACT has expired. She said if FACT programs were terminated, the initiative may not be sustainable, and encouraged the committee to give the FACT program a favorable review and consideration.

Sen. Steele suggested staff prepare a bill to extend the FACT sunset date and requested Ms. Johnson return to the committee to report legislative audit data.

MOTION: Sen. Allen moved to reauthorize the FACT program for a 10-year period.

Several committee members spoke in favor of the FACT program, but others requested additional information regarding program expenditures and successes in other counties prior to voting to re-authorize the program.

SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Rep. Frandsen moved that staff prepare legislation to reauthorize FACT for 10 years, but allow time for additional committee discussion and a review of the audit data. The motion passed with Sen. Allen and Representatives Bourdeaux, Gowans, and Shurtliff voting in opposition and Representatives Bradley Johnson, Keele Johnson, and Evan Olsen absent for the vote.

5. Technology - Digital Divide - Sen. David Steele deferred his presentation to a future meeting.

6. Additional Committee Business - Rep. Frandsen announced that the School of the Future received an additional grant.

7. Adjournment

MOTION: Rep. Hogue moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 p.m.