Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House amends and passes teaching scholarship bill to include private institutions with limits
Summary
The House amended and passed HB 78 on Jan. 24, 1991, to allow career teaching scholarships to be used at private institutions that have state-approved teacher education programs and to cap private tuition payments to parity with state institutions; constitutional concerns were raised and addressed on the floor.
House Bill 78 — legislation to permit career teaching scholarships to be used at institutions beyond public universities — was debated and amended on the floor Jan. 24.
Representative Birmingham and other sponsors said the change would let recipients use scholarships at BYU, Westminster, University of Utah, Weber and qualified private and community colleges, preserving the requirement that recipients teach in Utah. Representative Hall moved an amendment to limit the maximum amount paid for private-school tuition to the level funded for state institutions; Representative Wright moved an amendment to permit scholarship use at private institutions only if they have a state-approved teacher-education program. Both amendments were adopted and sponsors argued that a prior state constitutional amendment allowing indirect aid resolved earlier constitutional objections.
Representative Vanderton raised an ongoing concern about whether transferring state funds (even indirectly) to private or parochial institutions could breach constitutional limits; sponsors responded that the scholarship aid travels with the student rather than directly to the institution and cited precedent for indirect funding mechanisms.
The amended bill passed the House; the reading clerk recorded the vote on the transcript as 52 affirmative votes and 16 negative votes. The bill will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
