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This time last year, Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh was sitting in her second-grade classroom, lamenting a proposed $84-million funding cut to public education in Utah.

This year, she's on Capitol Hill as president of the Utah Education Association, and she's determined to unravel fiction from fact about Utah's neighborhood schools.

It stands to reason that she would make the move from teaching to leadership. As Utah Teacher of the Year in 2009, she spent a lot of time talking to her national counterparts, listening to colleagues and talking educational policy with those who make it and set its budget.

This year, the prospects for another major funding cut are real. Lawmakers are being asked to figure out how to pare seven percent from the overall base budget, and public education could take a hit of up to $91 million more, Gallagher-Fishbaugh says.

All this despite the fact that the K-12 student population grew by about 25,000 over the past few years, and about 14,700 new students are expected next fall.

"The issue is, we have not really, truly funded growth for the past two years," she says.

So she's looking for every teachable moment she can find.

"I'd like to say I came into this job with the absolute intent to build relationships and collaborate and be able to dialogue about what's best for kids and teachers," she adds. "I'm struck by what appears to be pure intentions but a real lack of knowledge about what public education and public schools are about in our state and across the nation."

She likens her role to that of a patient who sees her doctor about some medical problem: She might have an idea about what's wrong, but she's certainly going to listen to the professional.

"I'm hopeful our policy-makers will truly listen to those of us who are in this field, doing the work and willing to be accountable and transparent," she said.

There is so much at stake. There are nearly 580,000 kids in public school, and they're expected to graduate as contributing members of society. Trouble is, it costs a huge amount of money — nearly half the state's overall budget.

At the same time, lawmakers are coming up with some odd notions, such as a proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution that would put the Legislature, not the state Board of Education, in charge of public education. There's a proposal for yet another scoring system, one that would give a letter grade to every school. Charter schools, which have their own benefits and problems, are proliferating.

All this in a time when class sizes are rising, teacher salaries are stagnating and Utah still ranks dead last in the nation for how much it spends per pupil.

During early budget talks, it's been suggested that school districts take on more of the cost of retirement and Social Security benefits to save the state money.

"Of course, it's kind of moving the money from one pot to the other, but in reality, we've been in a crisis in our efforts to fund public education for several years," Gallagher-Fishbaugh says.

There is evidence, however, that many Utahns would accept tax increases to fund public education and pay teachers — who make an average of about $42,000 a year — a bit of a raise.

A recent statewide poll revealed that 67 percent would approve of tax hikes to pay teachers better, and 69 percent said they'd pay more to reduce class sizes. That comforts Gallagher-Fishbaugh.

"As a taxpayer, you want to know your money is going to what you value, and clearly our public values their public school system and teachers," she says.

The poll also reveals a "disconnect" between what lawmakers often say — that their constituents oppose higher taxes — and what most people would agree to.

So, Gallagher-Fishbaugh and her colleagues are on the hill working to build relationships with the people who build the budget.

"We're working really hard to build some relationships up here," she says. "We're really interested in beginning to come together. It's absolutely critical. We feel confident we're making some real headway."

I've sat in Gallagher-Fishbaugh's classroom, its cabinets filled with teaching materials that she developed and paid for, and with other teachers who line their shelves with books for the kids they love.

"We're playing baseball with both hands tied behind our backs, and we're scoring runs," she says. "We're really doing amazing things with limited resources."

Now it's time for the Utah Legislative to listen to the teachers, and the people who send their children to them, and do the right thing for all of them.

Peg McEntee is a columnist. Reach her at pegmcentee@sltrib.com.