In the wake of the defeat of school vouchers last November, proponents and opponents both vowed to work on education reform in the Legislature this year. From the number of education-related bills introduced this session, it appears reformers are keeping their word.

So far, 69 bills have been introduced in the House and Senate that deal with education, and requests have been made for an additional 42 education-related bills to be drafted.

The statewide teacher shortage is the subject of several bills. Last year, there was a shortage of 400 teachers in Utah. Tooele County School District is already on the hunt for 125 teachers to fill anticipated openings for next year.

Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, has sponsored two bills to ease the shortage. House Bill 66 will fund a scholarship program for paraeducators that want to certify as teachers, and House Bill 68 paves the way for teachers with lapsed credentials to re-enter the teaching profession.

A resolution encouraging districts to advertise the Alternative Routes to Teaching program has been introduced by Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem. The alternative routes program allows individuals holding a college degree but not a teaching credential to teach while working on certification as a teacher.

Retired teachers would be able to return to the classroom without losing retirement benefits under a proposal by Rep. DeMar Bowman, R-Cedar City.

"All of these proposals will help increase our potential pool of teachers and would be helpful to us," said Mike Johnsen, superintendent of Tooele County School District.

In addition to Gov. Huntsman's request for a $2,500 raise for teachers, several other bills relating to teachers' pay have been introduced. A bill to extend the year for special education teachers by up to 10 days at a rate of $200 per day sponsored by Menlove was passed without opposition by the state House of Representatives Wednesday. The extra time would be used for writing individualized education plans that are required for each student. Utah has a critical shortage of special ed teachers are many leave the profession because of burdensome paperwork, said Menlove.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, has introduced Senate Bill 35 to pay highly qualified teachers that fill critical-need positions in math and science a $5,000 bonus. And Rep. Bradley Last, R-St. George, has introduced a bill to create a task force to study performance incentives for teachers.

"We are in favor of recruiting more teachers and increasing pay across the board for all teachers," said Bob Gowans president of the Tooele Education Association. "There is a shortage of teachers at all levels. We agree with the governor's comments in his State of the State address that teacher pay in Utah needs to be raised so it is more competitive with surrounding states."

Several bills have been introduced to help promote and fund innovative approaches to education. A co-teaching program in elementary schools with two teachers in one classroom has been sponsored by Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, in his House Bill 88.

"We'll take a close look at this," said Johnsen. "It could be a way to lower the teacher-student ratio without the expense of building new classrooms."

Senate Bill 41 provides financial incentive to school districts that use an extended-year schedule to maximize use of personnel and facilities.

"We went to year-round schools for a while to deal with our population growth," Johnsen said. "At the time we did it, we made a promise to the public that when we built schools we would go back to a regular schedule -- and we have kept that promise."

Sen. Patricia Jones, D-Salt Lake, has introduced Senate Bill 61 that will create a financial literacy passport that will track a student's mastery of financial concepts such as budgeting, investments, balancing a checkbook, home buying, retirement planning, borrowing money, insurance, taxes, bankruptcy and the negative effects of gambling.

A measure to create a state capital facility board for schools, proposed by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, is opposed by the State Association of School Superintendents, Johnsen said. The proposal would create a state board consisting of people appointed by the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate and the governor. The board would prioritize projects and allocate certain state funding for school capital projects.

"I think our local school board has done an excellent job of managing our capital facilities and building projects," said Johnsen. "The loss of local control would not be good."

Gowans said he feels that real reform is possible this year.

"The thing that I am encouraged about this year that is different from past years is there is a more cooperative effort for reform," said Gowans. "The legislature is listening, there is more discussion."

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com