Utah lawmakers are renewing calls to make school board elections partisan affairs and to strip the state school board of its authority over the state schools superintendent. That last move, which would require amending the Utah Constitution, would render the board's education policy decisions largely ceremonial.

Lawmakers claim the proposals are unrelated to disagreements over vouchers, citing several education laws that weren't implemented the way they wanted. Yet veiled threats toward the state school board have only recently turned to unified calls for action.

"I would not be surprised to see some pieces of legislation come out this year directed at the [state school board]," Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, said at a May 16 House Republican caucus meeting days after Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff urged the reluctant board to offer vouchers.

Powerful Republicans were furious when board members voted not to launch a school voucher program based on a legally dubious section of Utah code. The Supreme Court validated the board's decision this month by ruling that no vouchers should be offered until voters decide the matter in a Nov. 6 referendum vote.

Legislators said the voucher debate was beside the point when they vented frustrations with board members Wednesday.

Instead, they pointed to board policy to award conditional diplomas to seniors who don't pass the state's high school exit exam, rather than the "certificates of completion" legislators stipulated. They also cited the board's intention to let money appropriated for computer infrastructure be spent on staff.

"As part-time legislators, we're a paranoid group," said Rep. Greg Hughes, co-chairman of the Education Interim Committee. "You ask yourself, 'Was I lucky enough to find the only two times this happened?' "

At least one state school board member found the exchange helpful.

"All of a sudden I could see some of the concerns on their minds," said Randall Mackey, a board member representing Salt Lake City. "I thought it was immensely productive, though we had some tension at times."

Lawmakers also spoke highly of the exchange.

"Just the discussion, I believe, was very, very positive," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, co-chairman of the Education Interim Committee. "I think we all walked away with a greater understanding of the other body."

Yet lawmakers still want to change how Utah governs public education. And they seem to be building momentum for two drastic proposals that never gained traction during the 2007 legislative session.

The first would have required political parties to choose state school board nominees. School board candidates are currently nonpartisan so party politics don't trump education interests. Political priorities rarely enter school board discussions but members fear that would change if parties choose candidates. Lawmakers say forcing candidates to go through the party convention and primary process will increase their visibility.

The second proposal sought to amend Utah's Constitution so the governor, rather than the state school board, would appoint the state schools superintendent. The change would give the governor a more direct role in setting education policy, but would leave the board with little real power.

Both bills passed the Senate by large majorities but never got a vote in the House. Yet future sessions could sow more support, especially considering the voucher frustrations of key representatives - most notably voucher sponsor and Rules Committee Chairman Steve Urquhart and House Speaker Greg Curtis.

Yet Hughes insists the education governance issue is unrelated to the voucher debate.

"These bills were before the Legislature last year prior to any voucher legislation occurring," he said.

Actually, both proposals debuted the same and next day as the school voucher bill. And veteran political observers say friction between lawmakers and the state school board has ramped up considerably since vouchers entered the political landscape.

"If you had asked almost any legislator prior to five years ago who the chairman of the state board of education was, probably 95 percent of them wouldn't have had a clue," said David Irvine, a former Republican state legislator and longtime advocate for public education. "This is all a product of the politics of vouchers."

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* NICOLE STRICKER can be reached at nstricker@sltrib.com or 801-257-8999.

The Utah Board of Education

The Utah Constitution created the state school board to oversee "general control and supervision of the public education system."

A governor-appointed committee selects qualified candidates for each of 15 geographic districts.

Voters choose between two candidates, or an incumbent and a challenger.

The members hire the state schools superintendent, who implements their policy decisions with the help of staff at the Utah State Office of Education.

Board activities include executing laws passed by the Legislature, updating Utah's education standards, approving curricula, distributing state education funds and compiling statewide statis- tics.