Public school advocates urged a key House committee to pump the brakes on quick approval of legislation that would give the state Board of Education unchecked power to take over the operations of a school district found to be unable to fix its finances.

But after a lengthy public hearing Wednesday, the House Education Policy and Administration Committee advanced the bill that its author made clear was driven by the financial irregularities that resulted in a $5 million school budget deficit in Claremont.

The vote was 10-7, with all Republicans in support of the amended bill ( HB 121 ) and all Democrats present in opposition.

“Claremont is a case study in failure, failure in auditing, failure in communication, failure in accountability and failure in transparency,” said Rep. Glenn Cord

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