Parents from the Jordan and Canyons school districts are mobilizing for a showdown today that strikes at the core of issues that have been brewing for years.

Each side is hoping to make its voice heard at a committee meeting where lawmakers will consider a bill, HB292, that would shift about $15 million from Canyons to Jordan by bringing property tax revenues per student in each district back to equal levels through redistribution of money.

The bill would also apply to splitting districts in the future.

One Jordan parent, Jolynne Alger, started a Facebook group supporting the bill a week ago; as of Tuesday afternoon, the group already had more than 1,000 members. Alger is urging members of the group, Jordan District for House Bill 292, to go to the Capitol today to show their support.

"Parents feel like they were ripped off in the Jordan district," Alger said. "They weren't heard, they didn't get a vote and now they're feeling like they're having to find a way to crawl out of all this financial damage that's been done to our children."

Jordan parent Zakia Richardson said it's only fair that Jordan should get some of the money generated by Canyons' richer property tax base, which includes businesses patronized by taxpayers in both districts.

Canyons' parents, however, are also preparing to defend their turf.

"Our parents and our families are furious over what is happening, and we're tired of it," said Julie Clawson, chair of the Oakdale Elementary School Community Council. "We're tired of how they're trying to change the rules on us." Arbitrators already ruled on how to split resources, and Jordan should stick with that ruling, she said.

Canyons parent and volunteer Wendy Barlow said Canyons needs its money to make its schools safer in the event of an earthquake and to relieve overcrowding. She said Canyons' students should benefit from taxes Canyons' parents choose to pay.

Jordan officials, who recently decided to cut 500 jobs and increase class sizes to deal with state budget cuts and fallout from the split, have said they had no say in the split and their children shouldn't have to suffer as a result. Meanwhile, Canyons officials say they're already helping to pay off a Jordan bond that the east side saw very little benefit from and are already sending Jordan millions of dollars for building needs, per a county-wide equalization law that passed two years ago.

The Jordan board also e-mailed a letter to all its employees Monday urging them to support the bill, an action that Canyons spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer-Cook said Canyons wouldn't take because they believe it would be a violation of a district policy prohibiting employees from using district networks for political lobbying.

Melinda Colton, Jordan spokeswoman, however, said the e-mail was not a violation of district policy because board members, even though they draw stipends and insurance benefits, are not considered employees and are allowed by policy to publicize their positions on issues affecting students.

Disagreements aside, it's unclear how the bill might do in committee today and could boil down to how many east-side lawmakers are in the room versus west-side lawmakers. Ten Republican lawmakers representing Salt Lake County's west side pledged Tuesday to work to resolve funding issues in Jordan, though not all those lawmakers are on the committee that will hear the bill today.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, said the House Education Committee wouldn't have been his first choice to hear the bill, but he's glad the bill is at least drawing attention. He said Tuesday night he believes if the bill gets out of committee it will have a 60 percent chance of passing.

"We're talking about something that can change children's lives, and that's putting teachers in the classroom," Bird said. "So it's an issue that deserves a lot of attention and discussion."

-- Katie Drake contributed to this story.