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Saturday, December 15, 2007GRAMA visits the USOE
"I've never done a GRAMA request before because, traditionally, legislators do not have much of a challenge getting information from agencies administering taxpayer funds."
- Senator Margaret Dayton On today's Daily Herald's Opinion Page: Buffalo Chip to the Utah State Office of Education for denying a request by state Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, for a copy of a grant application by Brigham Young University. State officials argued that the application could give competitors an unfair look at the research. Oh, please. The school won the $500,000 federal grant, administered through the state office, to study the controversial "Math Investigations" program at public schools. So the process involved federal, state and local government in a matter of wide public concern. If researchers are truly worried about exposure of their applications, here's a simple answer: Don't take the people's money to study public issues. The State Records Committee voted unanimously to give the documents to Dayton, but the Office of Education is mulling a court appeal. We're setting a pile of Buffalo Chips aside just in case.
posted by The Senate Site at 5:20 PM | Link
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10 Comments:
While senators are reading that column, I hope they notice the first buffalo chip, Lehi City's abuse of the GRAMA process.
Duly noted.
I think senator Dayton should get the chip for not bothering to research the issue. Being a part of this committee at BYU, I can tell you that this grant has nothing to do with "Investigations" never did, and never will. It is about effective mathematics teaching strategies and how they can be implemented in a school setting. It may have been nice of Ms. Dayton to ask the committee for a copy of the grant and an explanation, which she never bothered to do, and we would have been glad to work with her. Ms. Dayton also needs to understands that this is a federal grant and was issued by the federal government through the State Office of Education. This is not Utah money that Dayton has control over, and should not spend all of her time focusing on issues that are not under her control. Buffalo Chip to her and the author of this article.
I guess that is what happens when you give public money to a private school. You lose accountability! Voucher advocates take note!
Go read the latest audit report on Class Size Reduction Money and then tout the superiority of public school accountability.
http://www.le.utah.gov/audit/07_14rpt.pdf
You are still just upset that the public slapped your hands and told you that you were not listening. Do you realize that NEBO School district spends even more that your allotted class size reduction money for that purpose? I have not seen the report that you are talking about but do spend a lot of time going over Nebo's books as a dedicated patron.
It does sound as though the senate is out to get public education. Howard Stephenson said in a public meeting I attended "Public education is a sinking ship an we do not want to be on it!" That is a quote. It really sounds to me like you folks in the senate have an "axe" to grind with public education. I think that is very apparent to the public.
To "anonymous:"
I've been hearing about a public "backlash" regarding last year's voucher referendum, but I have yet to see the anti-voucher crowd put forth a viable alternative. Most of what I hear from the anti-voucher crowd is "give us more money."
What about the money already allocated for education? Are we so sure as Utahns that our money is being spent efficiently? Say what you will about the legislature, at least the voucher proposal was an attempt at change.
Um, anonymous... No one is fixated on vouchers here but you. The point of agreement among all parties (I sincerely hope) is that we need to provide Utah children with a world-class education. How that happens is going to take something more substantive than than hit-and-run accusations like these. We're working on it. Call us when you're ready to get serious.
Interesting that the audit that is referenced also indicates that funding has not kept up with growth. Has this been addressed? I am curious also about Mr. Stephenson's comments about public education. I have also heard the same thing. Should our legislature not be public educations biggest fans as they are the ones in control of it? Just a question. I have been very pleased with the experience my children have had in the public education system and do not think it is broken. There will always be things that can be done better, but that can be said about just about anything. Thank you for the money you are investing in our children. I do think it has helped. I would say my biggest concern is the inability for our public schools to compete as far as pay with our local private and even our local charter school. We have had a number of tremendous teachers leave and go to these schools because they are able to pay them much more. Do you think this is something that will be addressed? I am just concerned that this could become a trend and I feel bad about it.
Again, thanks for being concerned about our children and their education. I look forward to great things.
Barb
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