Herbert Opposes Proposed School Board Changes

(KCPW News)  Governor Gary Herbert is indicating he doesn’t like two proposed constitutional amendments to change how Utah’s public schools are managed.  The first one, sponsored by Republican Senator Chris Buttars, would make the state school board accountable to any laws passed by the Utah Legislature.

“I’m not too excited about having the legislature become the school board. I think that’s just a super-school board of 104 personalities; maybe just a little bit unwieldy,” said Herbert.

The second proposal would scrap the State Board of Education altogether, and put the governor in charge of Utah’s public schools.

But speaking at his monthly news conference on KUED, Governor Herbert said he isn’t looking to take over Utah’s schools himself, either.

“I think how we have it right now is actually working really well from the standpoint of management, and so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. There may be some ways we can fine-tune it,” Herbert said.

Both proposed constitutional amendments passed out of the Senate Education Committee earlier this week, but the state school board formally opposes them.