This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Sutherland Institute and Libertas Institute recently wrote columns against public education. If both these institutions were truly against wasting taxpayer dollars, why have they not called for an end to frivolous lawsuits instigated by the Legislature? Why have they remained silent on the billion-dollar albatross prison relocation and why did I not hear a peep from them when Facebook was offered $250 million in handouts? Why is corporate welfare good while investment in public education bad?

The founder of Libertas is an ardent proponent of homeschooling. So asking for his opinion about public education is like asking the fox what he thinks should be done to the henhouse.

The massive teacher shortage makes it clear that college students are not going into public education and teacher retention is low due to their paltry salaries. In any other profession the solution would be to make the profession attractive through better salaries. Why is education so different? It is time for Utah to do the morally right thing and finally invest in the salaries of these professionals. An investment in teachers is an investment in children. If Utah is becoming too socialist for these two institutions, what is stopping them from leaving?

Pat Thomas

Riverton