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A plan to grade Utah schools based on student achievement moved one step closer to reality Thursday, when the Senate Education Committee voted to advance SB59. More than a dozen people spoke for and against the bill, with some praising it as a move toward transparency and others criticizing it as oversimplifying the educational process.

The bill would assign schools letter grades of A, B, C, D or F, based on students' performance on statewide tests and graduation rates in high schools.

"When performance is measured, performance improves," bill sponsor Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, told lawmakers. He said assigning letter grades to schools would help lawmakers and the public know whether changes they make to education are improving schools and give parents a clear way to understand schools' performance.

Grades would be based, as measured by state tests, on students' achievement in math, language arts and science; progress in math and language arts; and how much progress the lowest-performing 25 percent of students in a school make in those subjects. Graduation rates would be factored in as well for high schools.

"Parents could look at something that's easy to understand and they could make a comparison," said Brian Allen, former state Charter School Board chairman, who supports the bill. "I think one of the reasons things never change is because we kind of gloss over the truth sometimes."

Judi Clark, executive director of Parents for Choice in Education, which has been working with Niederhauser on the bill, said letter grades would be more accessible than the state's current school accountability system, known as U-PASS.

"We seem to have no qualms about giving a student an A, B, C, D or F based on their performance and bringing that same kind of transparency and accountability to our schools would encourage communities to get around it," Clark said.

Others, however, said Utah should build upon the U-PASS pass system rather than create a new one. U-PASS, which was temporarily suspended this school year, measures whether schools meet state goals or need assistance based mainly on participation, proficiency and progress, as measured by tests, of all students and groups of students within a school.

Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, Utah Education Association president, noted schools use U-PASS results to help craft school improvement plans. She also worried that some schools would be at a disadvantage if they were to be graded because of the different issues facing students in different areas of the state.

Tami Pyfer, a state school board member who said she was sharing her personal views, doesn't understand why Utah is trying to emulate Florida when Utah outperforms Florida on some achievement measures. Niederhauser first announced his plan in August amid a visit from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said grading schools, among other reforms, boosted Florida students' achievement.

Other bill opponents wondered about the effectiveness of just grading schools without implementing the other Florida reforms, which included lowering class sizes; rewards and consequences for grades; and not allowing third-graders with poor reading scores to advance to fourth grade, among other things.

Pyfer also worried that grading schools on a curve would turn "successful schools into losers." Under SB59, if 80 percent of all Utah schools qualified for As or Bs in a given year, the state school board would have to increase the percentage needed to get each grade.

Committee member Sen. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights, attempted to amend the bill during the meeting to get rid of that provision, but her motion failed. Morgan also attempted to amend the bill to give schools one to five stars instead of letter grades, saying she was concerned about the stigma attached to low letter grades. That motion failed as well.

Niederhauser said his bill isn't about Florida; it's about creating transparency. And he said not enough people understand the current U-PASS system. He said assigning schools grades would "help parents, students and legislators all try to mine down to figure out what we can do with this information to help achieve a greater outcome."

The committee passed the bill unanimously, with one member absent. Morgan said she believes the bill needs more work but she wants to see the debate continue. The bill now moves to the Senate floor.