HB65 would have cost $800,000, which some  legislators  say  should  be  spent  elsewhere.

By lisa schencker

| The Salt Lake Tribune

The House voted down a bill Friday that aimed to increase the number of students continuing their educations beyond high school by putting intern counselors in Utah schools.

The House voted 42-31 against HB65 after some lawmakers expressed concerns about the proposal.

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The bill would have created a pilot program in which 18 graduate students studying high school counseling would be given training and then placed in high schools. School districts would apply for grants to hire them.

Bill sponsor Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City, said the interns would be trained to give students more guidance on post-secondary education and financial aid, because counselors are often overstretched.

But Rep. David Butterfield, R-Logan, said he’d rather put the bill’s $800,000 cost toward per-pupil spending, allowing districts to decide how to spend the money. And Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan, said some districts are already getting similar help from universities for free, and she worried that the interns would be able to help only those going to college, not those pursuing other paths.

Arent replied that the interns would help all kids regardless of whether or not they wanted to go to college or technical schools.