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Deon Turley
My youngest daughter graduated from sixth grade last week. As we drove away from the school for the last time, I found myself thinking about the challenges of the education community.
A recent letter to this newspaper commented on the large numbers of opposition candidates vying for a seat in the Utah Legislature. Noting that many were from the teaching profession, it warned against the election of "educrats" who want to take over the Legislature.
Certainly there is a strong showing of the education community in the field of candidates this year. I see it as a natural response to the Legislature's arrogant disregard of constituents' support of public education.
I was, however, fascinated by the term "educrat." It isn't found in the dictionary and the word itself sounds like something spat on the ground. Who would want a title like that?
If having a commitment to public education makes me an educrat, it is a label I'll gladly accept. If recognizing the need for excellence in institutions of higher education in the state and wanting to fund them sufficiently makes me an educrat, I admit to it. If efforts to provide everyone literacy training and educational opportunity would make me an educrat, sign me up.
Statistically, Utah is the youngest state in the nation. Families are large, and school-age children make up a large percentage of our population. Young people left to popular media, television and advertising, won't find training for informed citizenship. Preparation for their emergence into responsible adulthood requires a large investment.
It is well-established that education is power --not only measured in earning capacity but in ability to control one's own life. We want our children to understand how to function in an increasingly complex world. The educated citizen is more likely to tell a good idea from a bad one, a trustworthy steward from a swindler. Most families rely on public schools to help them teach their children to become independent, thoughtful individuals.
Our society also invests in the future through education. Public schools should prepare children to become productive, informed citizens. We all benefit when doctors know how to operate, when architects can design a building well, and when engineers create planes, trains, and cars that get us where we need to go in a safe manner.
The training of teachers has never been better. They are being prepared to teach a wide range of children with various individual challenges, family circumstances and cultural backgrounds. The administrators of public schools and state institutions of higher education shoulder responsibilities that are comparable to CEOs of large businesses.
The biggest difference between schools and business enterprises is that business generates its own income; public education must rely on public revenue controlled by elected officials. Our state legislators show their commitment by what they are willing to nurture, support and entrust.
Nurturing the education community means giving them manageable class sizes. The current student-to-teacher ratios in Utah are among the highest in the nation. This means our students get the lowest levels of individual attention of any group of public-school students in the country.
Supporting the education community means providing the funds necessary to do the job. That hasn't happened in our state. Public school employees in Utah are among the lowest paid in the nation. Per-pupil funding of education continues to place Utah at the bottom of the stack, relative to every other state in the nation.
Trusting the education community means allowing parents, teachers and administrators at the local level to control their budgets and curriculum. In this year's legislative session, a big part of the increased education funding went to specific state-defined programs. School officials who see the needs of the students and employees at close range are constantly shuffling budget categories to meet the requirements of earmarked funding.
The effects of this neglect take years to emerge, but they are showing up now. Scores that show preparation for post-high-school training are dropping, and measurements of technical understanding among Utah's population are showing a decline. This trend must stop. To scrimp on education is to leave the next generation unprepared for the challenges of a complex world.
We must be willing to nurture, support and trust the education community. Our Legislature could use a few more educrats who will do that.
• Deon Turley is the outgoing president of the Provo Council PTA.
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