EDUCATION - The Salt Lake Tribune

Report: Nation’s kids need to get more physical

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:41:13 MDT

Report: Nation’s kids need to get more physical

By JENNIFER C. KERR The Associated Press

Updated May 23, 2013 09:41AM MDT

Reading, writing, arithmetic — and PE? The prestigious Institute of Medicine is recommending that schools provide opportunities for at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day for students and that PE become a core subject. The report, released Thursday, says only about half of the nation’s youngsters are getting at least an hour of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity every day. Another concern, the report says, is that 44 percent of school administrators report slashing big c...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

To exit last place in per-pupil funding, Utah would need to spend $365M more a year

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:37:16 MDT

To exit last place in per-pupil funding, Utah would need to spend $365M more a year

By Lisa Schencker The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 23, 2013 10:37AM MDT

Utah would have to spend an additional $365 million a year to move out of last place for per-pupil funding, and $2.6 billion to reach the national average, legislative fiscal analysts told lawmakers Wednesday. Analysts presented the numbers, based on fiscal year 2010, as part of an exhaustive report on Utah education meant to help legislative leaders gathered for the first meeting of a new Education Task Force. The group, created under a law passed earlier this year, aims to come up with a plan ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Finalists named for Utah deaf, blind schools leader

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:50:28 MDT

Finalists named for Utah deaf, blind schools leader

By Lisa schencker The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 09:50PM MDT

Three men will vie for the job of superintendent of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, the State Office of Education announced Wednesday. It’s a position that’s long been mired in controversy. The state school board has named as finalists for the position: Joel Coleman, a state school board member, chairman of the board’s committee on the school and a charter school founder and trustee; Larry S. Taub, executive director of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf & Center for Community an...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Student-loan sanity

Wed, 22 May 2013 01:01:05 MDT

Student-loan sanity

By XXXXXX The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 01:01AM MDT

Congress has only begun working on student loans this year, and already it’s going better than last year’s debacle. Election-year politics drove Congress and the White House to endorse a bumper-sticker policy — keep loan rates from doubling! — instead of looking at the substance. Lawmakers rushed to extend a 3.4 percent rate on certain new loans instead of allowing the rate to revert back to 6.8 percent. That doesn’t sound bad to borrowers, but it reflects the weird fact that those loan rates a...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Trib Talk: Is Common Core an upgrade or ‘cookie-cutter’ education?

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:54:09 MDT

Trib Talk: Is Common Core an upgrade or ‘cookie-cutter’ education?

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 10:54AM MDT

State Board of Education Chairwoman Debra Roberts on Tuesday urged opponents of Common Core educational standards and new computer testing to “let go of this political posturing and recognize what we can do to transform education here in Utah.” “This is great stuff. Let’s work together to meet the needs of our children,” Roberts said during a live video Trib Talk with Dalane England of the Utah Eagle Forum, moderator Jennifer Napier-Pearce of The Salt Lake Tribune and Tribune education reporter...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Live video chat: Trib Talk on Utah schools and the Common Core

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:50:05 MDT

Live video chat: Trib Talk on Utah schools and the Common Core

By Jennifer Napier-Pearce The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 21, 2013 02:50PM MDT

Utah Republicans voted Saturday to withdraw from the Common Core, a set of education standards conservatives believe are “un-American and inferior” and an attempt by Washington to control Utah’s education system. What does this opposition mean for Utah students and teachers? Join a live Trib Talk discussion today at 11 a.m. with State Board of Education Chairwoman Debra Roberts, Dalane England of the Utah Eagle Forum, Tribune education reporter Lisa Schencker and Trib Talk moderator Jennifer Na...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For Utah college presidents, raise in pay, ire?

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:47:13 MDT

For Utah college presidents, raise in pay, ire?

By Lindsay Whitehurst | The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 21, 2013 07:47AM MDT

Utah public college presidents would get raises of up to 24 percent in July under a plan approved by the Utah Board of Regents. The extra money is designed to bring relatively low Utah salaries closer to rates at similar schools, a move Utah Commissioner of Higher Education David Buhler said is necessary to attract the best leaders. “Decisions they make can have an effect not just on students and faculty, but their decisions can also save the state millions of dollars,” he said. “We understan...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bees: More than 11,000 kids expected to attend Tuesday’s game

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:05:16 MDT

Bees: More than 11,000 kids expected to attend Tuesday’s game

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 20, 2013 12:05PM MDT

The Salt Lake Bees expect more than 11,000 fifth and sixth graders to attend Tuesday’s 10:35 a.m. game against Memphis for Prevention Dimensions Day. The drug and alcohol prevention promotion is in conjunction with the Utah State Office of Education, which will host. The opening ceremony features more than 400 Utah elementary students from the Davis, Granite and Salt Lake school districts. Utah’s First Lady, Jeanette Herbert and Verne Larsen, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Coordinator for the Utah ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Interim Southern Utah U. president named, public meetings set

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:39:28 MDT

Interim Southern Utah U. president named, public meetings set

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 19, 2013 05:39PM MDT

A former state higher education boss will serve as interim president at Southern Utah University during the search to replace Michael Benson, who is leaving to become president of Eastern Kentucky University. Richard Kendell, who takes over July 8, served as Utah’s commissioner of higher education for five years before retiring in 2007. Prior to that, he was deputy of public education under Gov. Michael Leavitt and superintendent of the Davis County school district. Kendell holds a bachelor’s d...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Mormon apostle Oaks honored for his fight for religious freedom

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:04:02 MDT

Mormon apostle Oaks honored for his fight for religious freedom

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Updated May 17, 2013 06:04PM MDT

Respect for religious freedom is waning as more Americans abandon organized churches, and the only way to bring it back is through systematic education. Those were the conclusions of LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks in his address Thursday in New York City to more than 600 people, including religious leaders of numerous faiths. The event was an annual award ceremony sponsored by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest organization “dedicated to protecting free expression of religious ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Six teachers, 22 schools receive arts-education grants

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:56:34 MDT

Six teachers, 22 schools receive arts-education grants

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 15, 2013 02:56PM MDT

Six Utah teachers and 22 schools and school districts across Utah will receive $65,100 in arts education grants, announced Wednesday by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums. Grants are given to provide funding for comprehensive arts-education projects, either with an artist or by accessing the services of an artistic company. The projects may be thematic and focus on a core curriculum area (math, science, language arts or social studies, for example) through dance, theater, music, storytelling, ...

Hatch and STEM

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:03:52 MDT

Hatch and STEM

Updated May 16, 2013 08:03AM MDT

Thomas Burr’s “Hatch bill seeks immigrants’ DNA” (Tribune, May 7) covers many important amendments that Sen. Orrin Hatch proposed last week, but it did not detail one very important amendment that deserves more attention. Hatch jointly filed a bipartisan amendment that would increase existing fees on companies that hire foreign workers to fill vacant high-skilled positions, which employers would happily do. Those fees would be used to establish a national fund to help Utah and other states stren...

GOP delegates to consider Common Core resolution

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:07:41 MDT

GOP delegates to consider Common Core resolution

By lisa schencker The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 16, 2013 11:07PM MDT

Utah Republicans plan to consider a resolution asking state leaders to drop new Common Core academic standards at their convention Saturday. The resolution’s supporters say it’s an important step toward educating Utahns about the standards, which they say are “un-American” and will lower the quality of education in Utah. It’s a resolution, however, that many state education leaders oppose and of which even a number of Republicans are wary. The state school board adopted the standards in 2010, a...

Pyle: Abstain from shame and fear

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:01:14 MDT

Pyle: Abstain from shame and fear

By George Pyle The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 13, 2013 09:01AM MDT

“Things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.” — Euclid (if you read) — Abraham Lincoln (if you watch movies) No, despite what you may have seen absolutely everywhere on the Internet, Elizabeth Smart did not explicitly condemn the whole concept of “abstinence-only sex education” in a speech she made the other day. But she didn’t do it any favors, either. Smart, Utah’s most famous kidnap victim turned eloquent advocate for the protection of children, was talking to a g...

Health and education

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:01:04 MDT

Health and education

Updated May 10, 2013 01:01AM MDT

According to “How’s your Utah school district’s budget for next year?” (Tribune, May 2), much of the Legislature’s increase in school funding will go toward “covering rising health-insurance and retirement costs.” One could also say that much of our education money goes to pay teachers. Or administrators. Or for books and computers. Or keeping schools heated in winter. What is the point The Trib is trying to make? That decent health care costs money? Is that a surprise? When did health care co...