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.
NEW: Find the right education for your child
Explore Utah schools, compare education options, and find a learning environment that fits your family using our new tool: the Utah Schools Navigator.
Published Research
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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A system ‘where money follows the children, not schools’: A Q&A with Allison Sorensen
Read More: A system ‘where money follows the children, not schools’: A Q&A with Allison Sorensen“Education policy is one of the things we tend to play a game of ‘whack-a-mole’ much too often,” Sorensen says. “The reality is we could solve a lot of these…
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‘It’s better to aim high’: Q&A on Utah State School Board’s revision of social studies standards
Read More: ‘It’s better to aim high’: Q&A on Utah State School Board’s revision of social studies standardsStates with “exemplary” civics and history standards typically include four elements. This is the conclusion from a Sutherland Institute Q&A with Fordham Institute senior researcher David Griffith, who co-authored a…
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Sutherland encourages education vision that sees beyond CRT
Read More: Sutherland encourages education vision that sees beyond CRTA debate of this magnitude, and of such consequence in the long term, calls for a more disciplined and principled approach. It demands that we as a state apply the…
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Civics lies at the heart of ‘the Utah way’
Read More: Civics lies at the heart of ‘the Utah way’With vision, leadership and sufficient efforts on the ground, we can muster the political will to plant “the Utah way” in the hearts and minds of future generations.
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If not a CRT ban – then what?
Read More: If not a CRT ban – then what?So if a destructive CRT ban is at best a partial policy solution – which may ultimately prove ineffective – what are the alternative (or perhaps additional) policy options that…
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Report calls Utah civics, history standards ‘mediocre’ – despite their strengths – compared with other states
Read More: Report calls Utah civics, history standards ‘mediocre’ – despite their strengths – compared with other statesNPR recently published a news story about a Fordham Institute report rating state K-12 civics and history standards across the U.S. based on their content, rigor, clarity and organization. Utah…
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Survey results suggest civics is a priority to Utah communities of color
Read More: Survey results suggest civics is a priority to Utah communities of colorA recently released opinion survey of parents and teachers in Utah found broad support for civics education reform that prioritizes civics and history education on par with math and language…
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Pandemic lesson: Curriculum transparency helps parents, can improve civics education
Read More: Pandemic lesson: Curriculum transparency helps parents, can improve civics educationClearly, curriculum transparency can provide a useful tool for parents who want to ensure that their children are getting the best education possible. But it can also be done in…
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Critical race theory – in the words of critical race theorists
Read More: Critical race theory – in the words of critical race theoristsOf course, while there are problems with CRT, the real source of our problems is the need to reform civics education in Utah.
