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Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, said Monday that he's requested a legislative audit to determine why Utah classrooms are still crowded even though large sums of money have been spent to address the problem.
"I've talked to members of school boards and superintendents of the largest districts in the state who have gotten the lion's share of the [class size reduction] money and they can't identify where that money was spent," Bramble said. "If the issue is class size reduction, we need to get a handle on where we spent the money."
Two bills addressing the issue are headed to the House floor.
A bill asking for $30 million to lower class sizes - consistent with Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr.'s budget request - passed a House Education Committee Monday. But HB94, sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, suffers a political disadvantage compared with the more modest HB149 sponsored by Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights.
That bill carries a $5 million price tag and comes with accountability requirements demanded by some legislators.
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, has long voiced concerns that class size reduction money comes with no strings attached. He's lamented that some schools still have 30 or 40 kids per class even though the Legislature spent $74 million to reduce class sizes last year.
Stephenson has offered to be the Senate sponsor of Morgan's bill, which would withhold class size reduction money from districts that don't keep classes sufficiently small. HB149 hasn't yet been debated on the House floor, but has won a spot on the Legislature's school budget wish list.
Would appropriate an extra $30 million to reduce class sizes
Next step: Heads to the House floor.