Utah Is Unlikely Fly In Bush’s School Ointment
Utah state Representative Margaret Dayton has a strong admiration for President Bush. Her conservative beliefs align with his, and one of her fondest memories is of a small gathering where she heard the president emphasize her top priorities: God, family, and country. However, Rep. Dayton is currently causing a major headache for President Bush in regards to education. Last year, she led a highly-watched effort for Utah to withdraw from the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s significant education reform law. This push only failed after federal officials personally traveled to Utah and convinced lawmakers that opting out of the law would result in a loss of at least $106 million in education aid for the state. Despite this setback, Mrs. Dayton has not given up. Alongside legislators in other states, many of whom are also Republicans, she views the law as encroaching on state and local authority and imposing unnecessary costs. Frustration with the law continues to simmer, and Mrs. Dayton has now proposed a modified plan that has received unanimous approval from the state’s House education committee. This plan is likely to once again draw attention to Utah and cause issues in Washington.
Mrs. Dayton expresses her difficulties in challenging the No Child Left Behind Act due to her strong support for President Bush. However, she believes blindly following is not the right course of action. For her, this is a matter of states’ rights. Her revised proposal aims to prioritize the state’s statutes over the federal education law, particularly when conflicts arise between the two levels of government. While her proposal does not outright reject the No Child Left Behind law, it grants school districts the ability to disregard federal requirements if state education funding must be used to implement them. This year’s bill is more likely to succeed compared to last year’s proposal as it already has backing from the GOP-controlled House and Senate. The Utah Office of Education also supports it, as does Governor John Huntsman Jr., who took office recently.
Across the nation, it is now the fourth year of implementing the No Child Left Behind law, which overhauls the forty-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Signed by President Bush in January 2002, the law emphasizes school accountability and requires regular student testing. It imposes penalties on schools and districts that fail to meet annual achievement goals based on these exams. The law also includes mandates related to teacher quality. Utah’s attempt to reject the federal law last year caught the attention of other states considering their options, and once again, Utah’s actions are being closely monitored. David Shreve, an education lobbyist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, predicts that many people will be watching as this issue progresses.
Utah may seem like an unlikely place to lead a rebellion against the No Child Left Behind Act. As an overwhelmingly Republican state with Democrats making up only a quarter of the legislature, Utah gave President Bush his largest victory margin in 2004. However, many Utahans have always felt a sense of independence and self-governance since 1847 when members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints settled in this mountainous desert. They strongly believe that having the federal government dictate their affairs is not the solution. Representative David N. Cox, a Republican and a 5th-grade teacher, expresses his willingness to give up federal funding in exchange for true freedom, as he sees federal imposition as limiting their autonomy.
Controversy in the Previous Year
As early as 2002, when the No Child Left Behind Act was starting to make its way into classrooms nationwide, Rep. Dayton already held the belief that it was flawed. Specifically, she disagreed with the allocation of millions of dollars by local authorities to implement the new law. This was particularly frustrating for her because almost 70 percent of the state’s land is owned by the federal government and does not contribute to the tax base that funds schools. This led her to introduce the opt-out bill the previous year, which resulted in a significant uproar.
"At first, federal officials viewed my efforts as an annoyance, thinking that I would eventually give up," said Mrs. Dayton, a lively 55-year-old homemaker from Orem, who has 12 children and over 20 grandchildren along with her husband, an obstetrician. She preferred not to be referred to as Ms. Dayton because of its association with the women’s liberation movement. However, she persisted in pursuing her cause.
Utah’s actions in 2004 gained national attention while other legislatures in states like Connecticut and Virginia were also considering opting out. As it was an election year, the negative publicity surrounding one of President Bush’s most important domestic achievements was unwelcome for Republican Party officials. To counter this, representatives from the U.S. Department of Education were sent to Utah. Deputy Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok, counselor Ronald J. Tomalis, and Deputy Assistant Secretary Ken Meyer all arrived to address concerns, persuade, and essentially lobby lawmakers in Utah to end their opposition.
Their efforts were forceful. "They tried to intimidate us," said Rep. Cox. "They attempted to undermine our opposition by threatening loss of revenue." This tense standoff angered many in Utah. "They made it clear that they believed we did not understand the law as well as they did," recalled Rep. Holdaway. "But we understood it perfectly well."
Before this confrontation, the Utah Office of Education reached out to the federal Education Department to ask for flexibility to opt out of certain provisions of the No Child Left Behind law and inquire about the consequences of doing so. In response, they were informed that the state could lose over $106 million in federal funding. Already, Utah has the lowest per-pupil spending in the country at $5,132, and their schools face larger class sizes, making every education dollar vital in their $2.4 billion education budget.
Despite these challenges, Rep. Dayton’s bill was unanimously passed by the House education committee in January 2004. However, the bill’s language was later modified to address lawmakers’ concerns about losing federal funding. Instead, it directed schools to stop using funds on federal requirements once the funding from Washington ceased. The revised bill had significant support, but Mrs. Dayton ultimately decided to shelve it after realizing that her actions were being perceived by the national media as "Bush-bashing."
"It was a difficult decision," Mrs. Dayton said, flipping through a worn-out copy of the federal law. "But I didn’t want it to become a major campaign issue." Rep. Patricia Jones, a Democrat, acknowledged that the pressure tactics from Washington worked. "It has forced us to essentially be puppets for the federal government," she commented.
Alternative Proposal
Mrs. Dayton expressed her support for U-PASS, stating that while they are unable to fully comply with the federal law, they are adhering to its general principles. Furthermore, the state of Utah has shown commendable progress in educating its students. According to the College Board’s recent "Advanced Placement Report to the Nation," Utah ranked third in the nation for the number of students who successfully completed AP tests. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington praised this achievement and criticized the federal law for setting arbitrary goals, comparing it to the assumption that all tomatoes ripen simultaneously on the vine. The response of federal officials to Rep. Dayton’s subtle rebellion and similar actions taken by other states remains uncertain. The Education Department refused to provide an interview for this story, but released a statement emphasizing their commitment to work with all states, including Utah, towards the common goal of ensuring quality education for all children. Utah lawmakers are hopeful that the new Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, who expressed her desire for a "sensible and workable" law during her confirmation hearing, will be receptive to their proposals. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah invited Ms. Spellings to visit the state and address their concerns, which she agreed to do. However, given the limited duration of Utah’s legislative session, a visit from Ms. Spellings may not occur in time to halt Rep. Dayton’s new bill. Despite this, Mrs. Dayton remains determined to reject the federal law entirely, stating that even if she were the sole decision-maker, she would still opt out.
