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SALT LAKE CITY — The House Education Committe voted Thursday to hold an amended version of HJR13, which was intended to allow voters to decide whether to amend the Utah Constitution and permit governors to appoint the Utah State Board of Education.
The 15-member board has been elected by Utah voters in nonpartisan races, but that will change this year after a Supreme Court ruling last fall that determined legislation passed in 2016 to allow partisan board elections starting in 2018 was constitutional.
The practical effect of the ruling is that for State School Board races this fall, candidates can file as partisan, unaffiliated or write-in.
Rep. Melissa Garff Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, who is the sponsor of HJR13 and asked the committee to hold the bill, said in the upcoming election partisan State School Board candidates will be selected by state party delegates.
She said she wants every voter to consider “which is the stronger vote, the vote for my state delegate or the vote for my governor to direct education?”
Ballard said although each of the gubernatorial candidates running for election has identified K-12 education as a priority, under the Utah Constitution the authority and control over the state’s public education system and selection of the state superintendent of public instruction rests with the elected Utah State Board of Education.
In recent years there have been other attempts to change the elected board to an appointed board, which would require an amendment to the state constitution, requiring approval by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature and a majority of Utah voters.
Critics of the current structure, who include some former board members, say board districts are too large — roughly the size of two state senate districts — and few Utahns can identify their elected board members.
Former State School Board member Spencer Stokes said when he served on the school board, one of his first initiatives was to schedule an appointment with a former superintendent of the Ogden School District.
“When I showed up to the meeting, she decided to blow me off. We can’t even get the respect we think we deserve from the local folks,” he said.
But others like board member Carol Lear, speaking for herself and not the board, said she works hard to stay connected with her constituents by volunteering on Thursday mornings at East High School’s food pantry and frequently visiting other schools in her district.
“I believe elected officials are closest to the people,” she said.
She added, “I will always support an elected board of education. I support elections. I support the people’s voice.”
Tami Pyfer, education adviser to Gov. Gary Herbert who formerly served on the board as an appointed member and later won election, spoke in support of resolution.
The governor’s recent appointments to the board after resignations of members who have moved from their district boundaries have brought fresh perspectives, expertise and balance to the board, she said.
“I feel very proud of the appointments we have made and the consideration that’s gone into those decisions, looking at board as whole,” she said.
While some people have expressed they do not want to give up their ability to vote for state board members, HJR13 would give Utahns the choice of whether to retain the vote or allow the governor the authority over “this very important decision,” Pyfer said.
Chase Clyde, government relations director of the Utah Education Association, said the state’s largest teacher association supports electing State School Board members.
“You the Legislature, my dear friends, have the power through statute, to take us back to direct nonpartisan elections,” Clyde said.
Ballard said she is prepared to run the resolution and companion legislation again in the next legislative session.
