Recently Utah passed the first universal voucher bill. Now the State Board of Education is discussing proposals that would force districts to loosen transfer policies and to split when they get too large. ?A state Board of Education Committee is pondering whether to cap school districts at 30,000 students.?
The establishment is thinking more about their customer instead of the system. Look at this statement from a State Board Member:
“I have no doubt in all my working with the districts that they’re trying to meet the needs of schools and parents and communities,” said Mark Cluff of Alpine, chairman of the board’s finance committee. “As we try to over-define what needs to happen, we become more concerned with what’s best for us, what’s easiest for us, and forget what’s best for the parent and the child.”
Remember when folks in Mecklenburg County wanted to deconsolidate the District? The leadership in the General Assembly (controlled by the Department of Public Instruction)would not even allow elected officials from Mecklenburg to speak to the issue.
Don?t ever underestimate the power of school choice to make the traditional education system more responsive to families, more efficient and effective, and raise the quality of education for each student. When schools compete, students win!
This is real education reform in Utah, and it is coming from the establishment!
