The Legislative Rules Committee is charged with determining the best way to enforce SB56, a new law that requires districts to accept all credits and grades given by institutions accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, such as Sylvan Learning Center or the BYU Independent Study Program.

The 2006 Legislature passed the law amid controversy because the Utah State Board of Education already had rules allowing individual school districts to set their own policies for accepting or denying credit. State education officials angered lawmakers by suggesting they would continue with their own policy and essentially ignore the new state law.

Tuesday, however, the rules committee said correct interpretation of the law means districts must surrender all decision-making ability to the state.

"This is a major shift in our thinking," said Patti Harrington, state schools superintendent. "We have been able to preserve local control and autonomy in the past, but this is clearly a dramatic shift in the opposite direction."

Harrington herself drafted the new rule, a fact that pleased Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, a critic of the way the old state policy worked.

"It appears we have gone in a direction that has resolved the issues," said Buttars, who listened in by phone because he was out of state.

The rules committee will not officially approve the new rule until Buttars returns and is able to read the new language.

However, some committee members still have concerns about the mandate. Sen. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, worries that students will stop taking rigorous courses in the high schools, and instead essentially buy grades from other institutions that are less demanding.

"We are taking away the local judgment that we always have said was so important," Moss said.

Buttars countered by saying all credits must come from accredited institutions. However, Moss is still concerned because all of the accredited private tutoring services in Utah are marked as lacking in areas, ranging from not having fully-accredited teachers to not closely enough matching the state's core curriculum.

"It's ridiculous to say that every class can be matched," she said. "What this means is that students aren't getting the same, rigorous education as in their high school."

The State School Board will meet to discuss the new rule on Friday.

smcfarland@sltrib.com