Schools should work with parent groups other than just the PTA, according to a bill that passed in committee Tuesday morning.

But some say the bill could keep the PTA out of Utah schools all together.

SB199 would require schools to give all parent groups equal access. But it would also prohibit schools from working with parent groups that refuse to waive membership dues upon request.

The PTA, which charges members an average of $5 a year in Utah, cannot waive dues, said Utah PTA President Marilyn Simister. She said those who can't pay are given scholarships, but the dues can't be waived. Simister said the state PTA would likely have to change its bylaws and consult the national organization before allowing dues waivers, a process she said could take up to a year.

Simister said the dues are reasonable and passing the bill into law would "be a great disservice to the children of Utah," given everything the PTA does within schools.

Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, said he's sponsoring the bill in response to parents who say they shouldn't have to be PTA members to have a voice in their schools.

Dawn Frandsen, with a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) in the Provo School District, said her district has largely excluded her group from decision making, instead turning to the PTA. PTOs, unlike PTA groups, aren't affiliated with national organizations.

She said parents shouldn't have to pay dues to be involved in decision making, and she objects to the idea of paying dues to the state PTA, which sends about $250,000 to the national organization each year.

"We need every dime we can get to stay in schools," Frandsen said.

Mitzi Collins, who is slated to become president of the Timpview High School PTA next school year, said she'd also like to see the bill pass. She wants to remain involved without paying PTA dues.

"It gives me hope I will be able to do that without paying membership dues…that go toward a political agenda I'm not in favor of," Collins said.

Many others, including Karen Clark with the Utah Eagle Forum, State Charter School Board chair Brian Allen, Canyons School District Superintendent David Doty, and Stan Rasmussen of The Sutherland Institute, also spoke in favor of the bill, saying it would allow more parents to participate in their children's educations.

Tamara Lowe, with the Utah School Boards Association, spoke against the bill, saying it seems targeted against the PTA, and schools should listen to all parent groups.

The Senate Education committee voted for the bill 5-1. Sen. Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley City, voted against the bill, saying he worries it will have unintended consequences such as barring other dues-paying groups like rotary clubs and chambers of commerce from working with schools. He said he also didn't understand why the committee would want to bar any group, including those requiring dues, from working with schools.

Bramble, who said his wife led PTA groups for many years, said his sponsorship of the bill has nothing to do with school vouchers, which the PTA opposed and Bramble championed. The bill next goes to the Senate floor.