This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

With just four days left in the 2011 legislative session, the annual assault on public school teachers is just about over for this year.

After Thursday, teachers can lick their wounds, hobble into their classrooms and continue to try to teach kids to the best of their ability, despite relentless attacks from the tea party movement that they are overpaid, lazy and socialist.

Teachers are under attack by the right-wing Utah Legislature every year. But this year was particularly brutal. And, based on the draconian bills that were considered, but finally abandoned, next year could be worse if sponsors of those bills shore up support.

One of the abandoned bills, sponsored by Senate Education Committee Chairman Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, was dropped before a line of content was put in. But the bill's title, and discussions about the legislation, suggest Stephenson wanted to force the conversion of a traditional public school into a charter school if 51 percent of the parents in that school district wanted the change.

Stephenson sponsored 24 education-related bills this year, including the abandoned ones, most of which either punish or diminish the autonomy of public schools or enhance the power and authority of charter schools.

In the same vein, Stephenson exercised his passion for steering public school money to private enterprises, even though his efforts to do that a couple of years ago didn't work out so well.

A contract given to a private company called Digital Bridge, you might recall, ended up costing the State Office of Education about $3.5 million when Digital Bridge went out of business without doing the work it had contracted with the state to perform.

Digital Bridge was lauded by Stephenson and others for having a complex software system that could track the progress of students and the effectiveness of their teachers. The contract went to Digital Bridge when Stephenson got involved, clearly letting education officials know that was his preferred provider.

When a technical adviser in the Cache County School District expressed his concerns to a senator about Digital Bridge, an officer of the company called him at his home to take issue with his comments. It was obvious the company officer learned of the comments from a senator.

Once again, Stephenson is shilling for his favored private providers, including an online education program operated by private contractors. State school funds would follow the student and go to the online private company providing the curriculum. If it happens, let's hope it's not another Digital Bridge debacle.

But when Utah Education Association President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh asked Stephenson in the committee if the private online company would return the money to the state for each student who failed the course, Stephenson puffed out his chest and chucked his lightning-rod rhetoric back at the UEA chief. Sure, he said, that could be done if public schools gave back to the state the money they got for every one of their students who failed.

That's when the committee room turned into a World Wrestling Federation arena and all of the Parents for Choice in Education folks, who Stephenson was there to entertain, cheered and clapped and "whooped" — high-fives, chest bumps, head bumps.

Because that is what this is all about. Ever since the majority of Utahns went to the polls and repealed the private school voucher bill passed by the Legislature in 2007, the PCE folks have used their stooges in the Legislature to slip voucher-type principles through the back door.

In all, 110 education-related bills were introduced this year, most of which attacked public education and traditional school policies and procedures. There even is a bill requiring schools to teach U.S. government principles.

Perhaps next year there will be a bill requiring schools to teach math. And in 2013, maybe one to mandate the teaching of grammar.

Contact Paul Rolly at prolly@sltrib.com paul rolly

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