Christine Cooke Fairbanks

Microschools allow fewer students than in a traditional school to meet in a mixed-age environment, much like a one-room schoolhouse.

Families looking for flexibility of time and location while having structure or curriculum organized may be the most interested in virtual schools.

A magnet school exists within a public school district and has a specific theme – which could include STEM, performing arts, International Baccalaureate, or career and technical education.

Home schooling grew among minorities and special-needs students during pandemic. Utah’s home-school community also increased substantially during COVID-19 era.

Private schools likely saw an uptick in enrollment during the pandemic because they offered a genuinely different option to families who were worried about the effects of remote schooling.

To win the working-class vote, candidates from any party would do well to take a closer look at supporting career and technical education (CTE) – the pipeline to many occupations.

Education pluralism is a policy environment that supports high-quality schools as varied as the people, values, needs and philosophies that exist in society, and it ensures that students have reasonable access to that variety of options.

The variety of school options for students ought to reflect the pluralistic society we live in, where students have unique learning needs and differing family dynamics.

What would Utah education look like if state and local public policy fully embraced the full diversity of school options?