
Policy
Education
Human beings are magnificent. We were born with a God-given ability to learn and the capacity to grow. As Aristotle put it, “All men by nature desire to know.” Education is broader than any one school system. It’s a series of opportunities to learn, which should be delivered in ways that allow us to meet the unique needs of children. The growing diversity of our student population requires an equitable education for every child, which contemplates both productive citizenship and employment and which is delivered by the best teachers – whoever they are.
This vision for education requires humility and the pursuit of good ideas – wherever they come from. We can achieve this by empowering parents to create learning paths as unique as the student, rejecting approaches that undermine decision-making authority of those closest to the student, respecting taxpayers as owners of the public education system, and protecting the marketplace of options and the innovators who contribute to it. Education is necessary because each individual has the potential to accomplish great things. Education should reflect these truths, and we believe it can.
Conversations
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Find the right education option for your child
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Find the right education option for your child
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Utah Schools Navigator: Helping families find the right educational fit
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Parents know their children best
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The education debate that's changing America
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Should every child go to the same type of school?
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Who decides where kids go to school?
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The growing demand for school choice
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Why one education system cannot work for every child
Insights & Takeaways
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New research shows why religiously motivated colleges and universities offer far-reaching benefits
Read More: New research shows why religiously motivated colleges and universities offer far-reaching benefitsReligious schools created much of the infrastructure for education historically and continue to educate many students.
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Utah should prepare for changes to the U.S. Department of Education. Here’s how
Read More: Utah should prepare for changes to the U.S. Department of Education. Here’s howStates may have a unique opportunity to evaluate what state and local control really means without the same pressure from D.C. that has existed in the past.
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Why parent-friendly school district websites deserve more recognition
Read More: Why parent-friendly school district websites deserve more recognitionTo further advance parent access to curriculum, Sutherland Institute is launching the Partners in Learning Certificate project.
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Trump announces the U.S. Department of Education closure – what does it mean?
Read More: Trump announces the U.S. Department of Education closure – what does it mean?Many questions remain about this transition, like what it means for student loans, civil rights enforcement, and future federal education reforms.
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Parent-Driven Education in America: A Revival
Read More: Parent-Driven Education in America: A RevivalWhile some may argue that the momentum of parent-driven education today is experimental, a look at the history of the U.S. shows that is not true.
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How to leverage local school district policy to improve education
Read More: How to leverage local school district policy to improve educationDistrict-level policy is an important avenue to education reform, especially in parent access to curriculum.
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Utah’s path to leadership on Artificial Intelligence in education
Read More: Utah’s path to leadership on Artificial Intelligence in educationUtah is positioned to be a leader in AI and should continue to find ways to lead in the area of AI in education as well.
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Utah advanced parent-driven education but left reforms on the table
Read More: Utah advanced parent-driven education but left reforms on the tableLegislators should explore improvements to open enrollment transparency for parents and find innovative ways to increase parent access to classroom curriculum.
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What Utahns think about transparency of school district open enrollment data
Read More: What Utahns think about transparency of school district open enrollment dataNew Sutherland Institute/Y2 Analytics survey data – broken out into political groups and age ranges – provides insight into attitudes toward open enrollment data reform at the school district level.












