Education

I support public education. My mother was a public school teacher most of my life and my six children all went to public schools. I believe in the premise that the public is best served when it ensures its citizens are educated. However, I also believe strongly that parents should be able to exercise whatever educational choices they select for their children.

Because of the high number of children in Utah, as a percentage of the population, we may always have difficulty funding education as much as we would like. With the expectation of even larger numbers of children increasing our student population in the next ten years and further stretching our state resources, I am working with the state school board and others to find creative ways to use our resources to provide an excellent education for our children.

Everyone pays taxes that contribute to the cost of education. Utah County is a family oriented culture and we value education for our children. We have many options in educating our children, including public school, public charter schools, private school, and home school. Not all children learn the same way and some children have specific challenges. It is reasonable that parents should be able utilize the best educational format that they believe will work for their children.

Over the last two years we have funded nearly 1 billion dollars in new monies for education:

$2,500 raise and $1,000 bonus for teachers in 2007;
$1,700 raise for teachers in 2008;
$5 million to pay math and science teachers more each year;
merit pay incentives to encourage our best teachers;
$15 million to help equalize property taxes for school construction across the state;
$10 million for teacher supplies and materials;
$6.9 million to extend the year for some math and science teachers as a way to increase pay and provide more instruction;
$3.5 million for a pilot software program to educate preschool-age children in their homes;
$2.9 million to extend the school year for special educators as a way to increase pay;
$2 million for Carson Smith Special Needs scholarships;
$500,000 to better train teachers to work with gifted children;
$500,000 for financial and economic literacy education in school;
$100,000 to help high schools pay for international baccalaureate programs;
$15.8 million to hire additional art teachers over several years;
merit scholarships to students who complete a rigorous core course of study in high school;
further innovative approaches for enhancing our math and science programs;
exploration of new solutions to fund and improve educational opportunities for our children.

I support our schools - each of my six children have benefited greatly from their outstanding education in the Alpine School District.