Senate adopts grants for online testing and amends 'Common Core' language

Senate Bill 97, which provides grant funding for schools to implement online summative assessments and adaptive testing, cleared the Senate after floor debate and amendment.

Senator Osman, sponsor of SB97, described the programmatic purpose: grants administered by the State Board of Education will support technology for online summative and adaptive assessments and require matching funds from local districts. He indicated that staff were still finalizing language and moved to circle the bill pending receipt of amendment language; later in the session he moved to uncircle once the amended language arrived.

The floor debate focused on language that referred to the "common core." Senator Osman offered amendment #2 to define the term as the Utah Common Core and to describe it as standards adopted by the State Board of Education. Senator Dayton proposed a substitute amendment to make the phrase possessive — "Utah's common core" — in multiple places to signal state ownership and avoid implying federal adoption; sponsors largely agreed and the substitute amendment was adopted after discussion about exact line positions.

Senator Bramble questioned whether making the phrase possessive would make the state's standards mutually exclusive from other states, and supporters explained that the possessive language preserves Utah's authority to define its own standards even if they align with national recommendations.

After adoption of the amendments, Senator Osman moved final passage. The roll call showed the bill passed with 28 affirmative votes and will be forwarded to the House for consideration.