If the first day of the 2012 legislative session is any indicator, it appears lawmakers intend to keep their word to make education a top priority. Yesterday, a bill that would limit class sizes in Kindergarten through 3rd grade passed unanimously out of committee despite concerns the money should be spent elsewhere. KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports on what the bill could mean for Utah’s schools.
Dr. David Pershing is the new president of the University of Utah. In a unanimous vote this afternoon, the State Board of Regents selected Pershing, who was previously the university’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, as its 15th president. In a brief speech at Rice Eccles stadium, he began by praising the faculty, but then turned his attention to students.
Utah is near the bottom of the pack on public education, according to one national publication. The state just earned an overall grade of C- from Education Week’s annual Quality Counts report.
One Salt Lake County Councilwoman is teaming up with kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart to help make sure kids along the Wasatch Front are learning important safety skills.
The Utah State Board of Education is hoping to restore funding for a public school program hailed as one of the most successful science and engineering programs in the country. MESA, which stands for Math Engineering Science Achievement, lost its state funding during the 2010 session, which has some concerned that students are missing out. KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports on what is being done to bring it back.
The economic downturn has certainly taken its toll on higher education in Utah. Utah Valley University says it could have taken thousands more students this fall if it had been able to offer more classes. But State Senator Steve Urquhart has been on a listening tour, hearing from students and faculty across the state about how to improve Utah’s colleges and universities.
State lawmakers on the Education Interim Committee heard results today from a two-year pilot program that compensates elementary school teachers for student performance gains. Teachers in the five schools that participated were offered financial incentives for improvements in student learning, instructional quality and parent, student or community satisfaction.
While tension has run high in the past between members of the State Board of Education and the Utah Legislature, the two bodies have also found avenues for collaboration, like a new proposal to reform teacher contracts. Wednesday night, the board will meet face-to-face with lawmakers in Salt Lake City for a roundtable discussion. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with Board Chair Debra Roberts.
Major changes could be on the way for Utah teachers. Backed with support from the State Board of Education, Republican Senator Aaron Osmond, who just took office last spring, has proposed the Education Employee Reform Act, which could mean shorter teacher contracts and performance-based salaries. KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports on the proposal and how teachers are reacting.
Utah’s fourth and eighth graders showed no significant improvement in math or reading in the new results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. State Office of Education Spokesman Mark Peterson says scores for both grades basically held flat from 2009.
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