School funding bill seen as connection to charter school funds passes
SALT LAKE CITY — A school district funding bill opponents say is part of a legislative effort to give more money to charter schools was passed out of a House committee Friday.
HB301, sponsored by Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan, would consolidate the 13 different tax levies school districts now have available into just six.
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But Patti Harrington, the lobbyist for both the state school boards association and the state school superintendents associations, said the bill was part of a push to find more funding for charter schools.
Harrington called HB301 a companion bill to Newbold's charter school funding bill, HB313, and said it is "trying to solve a larger problem, how to replace local property taxes that currently charter schools do not get."
She said HB313 would require local school districts to turn over some $67 million to charter schools. That, Harrington said, would likely compel local districts to raise property taxes.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705367460/School-funding-bill-seen-as-connection-to-charter-school-funds-passes.html