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- 2007
Utahns for Public Schools
Utahns for Public Schools By ones and twos, the former Utah lawmakers -- some with gray hair, some with white -- came to the Utah Capitol to stand together in support of a citizen's initiative that would establish a nonpartisan ethics commission and code of conduct for the Legislature.
www.sltrib.com
McEntee: Wise advice on ethics reform
Utahns for Public Schools Thirty-five former state legislators from both houses and both sides of the aisle announced their support for a far-reaching ethics initiative Tuesday. "They want to maintain control over what is known about their workings," Shepherd, a senate Democrat who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, said ...of the state's lawmakers. "They do not welcome outside scrutiny. Nobody who has ever had power gave it up willingly. Period."
www.deseretnews.com
Deseret News | Former state legislators support ethics initiative
Utahns for Public Schools
State of Utah Education Address...."Where is spending for schools headed? From last school year to this school year, the state appropriation for public education fell by $172 million, a cut of about 5-1/2 percent. This loss of
$172 million means fewer teachers, larger classes, fewer school days, and lower annual pay and...
benefits for school employees." What's in store for 2011?
www.usoe.k12.ut.us
Utahns for Public Schools Under a bill proposed Wednesday, students would have to earn 3.5 grade point averages (GPA) in their high school classes in addition to earning associate degrees while still in high school in order to win New Century Scholarships. Now, students must have 3.0 GPAs in their associate degree classes, but there's no requir...ement for overall high school GPAs. Under the bill, the GPA requirement would start with the Class of 2012
www.sltrib.com
New rules for New Century Scholarships?
Utahns for Public Schools Jordan Superintendent Barry Newbold suggested testing the trimester model before taking it district-wide. And State Superintendent Larry Shumway said he is exploring ways to do just that.
www.sltrib.com
Year-round schools pitch fails -- for now
Utahns for Public Schools Many Utahns have, at one time or another, questioned the ethics of people who hold public offices. Few have done anything about it - until now, that is.
www.thespectrum.com
Constituents expect their lawmakers to act with integrity. Although most elected officials perform their duties in an ethical manner, the actions of a few and the contents of certain laws breed distrust.
Utahns for Public Schools Utah spends a little more than half the national average on public education per student. Utah is dead last among all states and trails Idaho, the next lowest state in per-pupil spending, by $1,000 per student. Class sizes are the largest in the nation and growing. Teacher pay is embarrassingly low.
Utahns for Public Schools The Salt Lake Chamber, which represents area businesses, has proposed some ideas for solving the state's budget crunch.
Utahns for Public Schools Budget-starved schools are being portrayed as "victims of the economy," when in fact, "we are all victims of the Legislature's choices," said State Board of Education member Leslie Castle at last week's meeting.
www.sltrib.com
Utah schools appear to lose out with new tax codes
Utahns for Public Schools Though the Legislature could make reinstating the food tax revenue neutral by lowering the general rate, the office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst estimates the change would generate some $144 million in additional general fund revenue in fiscal 2010.
www.deseretnews.com
2 senators seek to hike sales tax on Utah food
Utahns for Public Schools State lawmakers may not have much money for public and higher education this year, but this report ought to spur them to do whatever they can to re-emphasize the need for education. Utah still ranks well at 18th, but it can't afford to drop any further.
Utahns for Public Schools The ballot initiative represents the Holy Grail for those who seek responsive, ethical governance by leaders who answer to voters, not special interests. Read the proposal, which calls for caps on campaign contributions, a prohibition on contributions by corporations and special interest groups, a ban on lobbyist gift-...giving, an independent ethics commission and other substantive reforms, at utahnsforethicalgovernment.org.
Utahns for Public Schools Ethics in the Utah legislature…why should I care?
blog.utahnsforpublicschools.org
Get Informed – Take Action – Connect!
Utahns for Public Schools The Legislature this year cut funding for public schools 5.2 percent. Utah already spends less per pupil than any other state, $4,000 less than the national average and $1,000 less than the next lowest-spending state, Idaho. Any further cuts to public education will mean even larger class sizes (Utah already has the na...tion's largest) and more difficulty reducing the state's shameful achievement gap between whites and minority students. And that gap, if not closed, puts Utah's future at risk.
Utahns for Public Schools State Superintendent Larry Shumway told the Deseret News after the vote Friday that the budget is a strategic decision. "We could always have asked for more. We looked at the economic circumstances and the available resources and tried to set a benchmark for this appropriation that would be at the highest end achievabl...e that we could get," Shumway said. "We wanted to set a bar that would be a stretch for the Legislature — but possible."
www.deseretnews.com
Educators grapple with funding, test issues
