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A bill that would assign letter grades to Utah schools based on student achievement passed out of the Senate Monday morning despite some lawmakers' concerns about the measure's fairness.
SB59 passed 17-10 and now moves to the House. SB59 would assign schools grades of A through F based on students' proficiency and progress in language arts, math, science and writing and, in high schools, their graduation rates and measures of college and career readiness. If the bill passes, schools could start earning grades in 2012.
Bill sponsor Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, has said the purpose of the bill is to make school performance more transparent to parents and community members. The idea is based on Florida's policy of assigning letter grades to schools and was announced by Niederhauser amid a visit by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush last year.
Some lawmakers, however, criticized the idea Monday, saying it's unfair to grade schools that face more challenges than others, such as large numbers of students learning English or students without access to early childhood education, without providing additional help.
"Until we are willing to actually invest in remediation for those schools who cannot achieve an A grade, I think this is clearly unfair," said Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay.
But Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, argued that grading schools could help to ultimately improve them.
The state school board has not taken a position on the bill. The Utah Education Association also has not taken a position on the concept of grading schools but has expressed concerns about SB59. Parents for Choice in Education worked with Niederhauser on the bill.