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One senator has apologized "for not being more appropriate" when she characterized International Baccalaureate programs as "anti-American," and another who joined her in opposing funding for the college-prep courses said Thursday he changed his mind after visiting a classroom.
Republican Sens. Margaret Dayton and Darin Peterson's comments came around the same time the Legislature's main budget committee voted to fund I.B. programs in Utah after all.
HB266, which requested money to help fund I.B., appeared dead after Dayton, from Orem, Peterson, from Nephi, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, killed it in a Senate committee last week. But ultimately, lawmakers have included $100,000 for the bill sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, on their short list of education programs to fund this year. Moss requested $300,000 but said Thursday she's happy to get any funding considering dozens of other school programs will get nothing.
Although HB266 passed the House unanimously earlier this month, it ran into trouble when Dayton said she was "opposed to the anti-American philosophy that's somehow woven into all the classes as they promote the U.N. agenda," then voted with Peterson and Stepheson to kill the bill.
Since then, current and former I.B. students and their parents have deluged Dayton and other lawmakers with e-mails asking them to reconsider. I.B. students from Syracuse Junior High School also visited the Capitol and Moss has worked behind the scenes to resuscitate her proposal.
"I talked to wiser, more reasonable people . . . who realized it would be an embarrassment to our state if that story went national," she said. "The public outcry was so big."
Moss said the public outrage may even have helped to ultimately fund her bill.
"It's an extraordinary program," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday of I.B., in which his own son is enrolled. "We need more of them, not fewer." Dayton acknowledged Thursday that the program "does a lot of good things in Utah." She said she was concerned about "what happened in other states that had trouble with it" and worried about making sure entities outside Utah weren't controlling education.
She also sent an e-mail reply to those who had e-mailed her about her comments.
"I apologize for not being more appropriate in my comments in committee," Dayton wrote. "It was my understanding that members of the public were planning to express concerns about the I.B. program. When they did not present in committee, I felt a need to reflect their concerns."
Peterson, who also voted against the program in committee, said he visited an I.B. classroom at Salt Lake City's West High School this week and it led him to reconsider his stance.
"If all our local programs are like this West High program, they're actually a very good thing," he said. "They've changed my mind at least about our state's I.B."
* The issue: Whether Utah school districts should receive more funding from the state under HB266 to help pay for International Baccalaureate programs available at seven high schools.
* What's new: Lawmakers have included $100,000 for I.B. on their list of funding priorities, even after some lawmakers attempted to kill the bill, alleging the program is "anti-American."
* What's next: The funding list that includes $100,000 for I.B. will next go to the full House and Senate, which will likely approve the funding on its way to the governor.