Balance on the Rails: HB 70 - Utah Railroad Museum Amendments

Weber and Box Elder Counties are home to Utah's and the Western States' great railroad heritage.  When the golden spike was driven into the rails at Promontory in 1869, it set off a wave of development in Northern Utah that culminated in Ogden becoming one of the great cities of the era.

To protect this heritage, a state Railroad Museum Authority was established in 2010.  The Authority was designed make decisions to help preserve the story of the railroads and also make this aspect of Utah history available to the public.

The governing board was created by a Senator and Representative from Box Elder County.  Their intentions were good.  However, membership of the board was ultimately underrepresented by Weber County.  HB 70 corrects this uneven distribution of participants to adequately represent both counties on the governing board equitably.

  

HB 70 - Utah Railroad Museum Amendments by Jeremy Peterson

DEFIANT: Ogden School District Education Revolution Succeeds

The Ogden School District is not new to controversy.  Last year saw a contentious contract dispute as administrators placed performance pay provisions in the new working agreement with teachers.  All the teachers except one agreed to the new contract.  Also, last year we saw Superintendent Zabriskie depart and Superintendent Smith step up to the helm of the district.  At that time, some in the community questioned his ability.

I had my first opportunity to meet Superintendent Smith when he invited to me to tour Dee Elementary school last year.  He was showcasing a new revolutionary approach OSD was taking to improve historically low student performance.  I was completely impressed by what I saw then.  You can read about what I saw during that tour.  At that time, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the risks the district were taking would pay dividends. 

As it turns out, they did, and huge.  Here are the results of the Ogden program:

Keep in mind that, last year, these three schools were ranked among the ten worst schools in the state.  I am proud to say that that onerous distinction now no longer applies.

Also, keep in mind that these amazing results have occurred in just one school year.  The program will be entering its second year this Fall.  The district plans to build on this foundation of success and student performance should continue its upward trajectory.  They are truly taking these schools from worst to first.

Another example of Ogden School District achievement is represented in their student graduation rates:

 
As you can see, Ogden High School ranks with Bountiful, Weber, and Fremont high schools.  Both Ben Lomond and Ogden High Schools beat their Salt Lake City counterparts (East, West, and Highland HS) despite the fact that they are demographically very similar.  

Ogden School District has made uncomfortable personnel changes, changed patterns in teaching, and adopted practices that are ultra-focused on getting results.  These results have not come easily, but the difference it is making is absolutely worth it. 

I want to thank Superintendent Smith, and members of the school board Joyce Wilson, Don Belnap, Jennifer Zundel, Steven Marker, Jeff Heiner, Shane Story, and Jeff Harris.  Their willingness to move mountains has made Ogden a better place.    

Bill Surprises 2012

This week I had a couple surprises and some learning experiences.

The first surprise came from an effort of one of my colleagues to pull my bill from the express lane and slow down its hearing.  This, despite a great effort was made by myself and, more importantly, the committee members who hear the bill.  I won't detail the drama of the situation here, but I was able to use a rare parliamentary procedure to expedite the hearing and overcome the challenges to the bill.

In other drama, a bill was heard today regarding the Good Landlord Program as it has been implemented in various cities across the state.  The problem is that several cities have abused landlords through licensing fees and gouged them in regards to the program.  A bill was proposed today that would essentially gut the good landlord program.  Unfortunately, that would bode poorly for Ogden's neighborhoods and take Ogden backwards.  I put the bill on hold in committee so we can have an opportunity to find a workable solution over the weekend.

(Click Here to Listen to the Bill Presentation and My Remarks)