That is as it should be. Since education is vitally important to every aspect of life in Utah, it should be the focus of interest for politicians and scholars, researchers and bureaucrats, as well as parents and educators.

What hasn't changed over all the years of education's evolution is the eager smile on a child's face as she takes her seat in a first-grade classroom on a warm, late-August day. Nurturing that enthusiasm for learning is the most important job of every classroom teacher. Unfortunately, it's a task that requires more tenacity and dedication than many new teachers can muster.

The challenges are many: Utah's overcrowded classes (the largest in the nation), meager per-pupil investment (lowest in the nation), low pay for beginning teachers (Utah's average teacher salary ranks 39th; salary increases come slower than in neighboring states) and an increasing number of children from disadvantaged homes who need extra attention.

All this can take the excitement out of teaching in a hurry. So it should be no surprise that almost half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years; in Utah a third leave in the first three years.

Still, we urge new teachers to hang in there. Teaching has unique rewards. And Utah schools need you.

More than half a million Utah children are settling in for the new school year. Many of them come from families who can help them complete assignments and understand new concepts. However, an increasing number are immigrant and minority children whose parents may speak little or no English and who often are working so many hours that they have few to devote to helping their children learn.

The dropout rate for minority students increases nearly every year, and in 2004 only half to a third of Latino, Asian, African-American and American Indian seniors graduated.

With an estimated 140,000 additional students flooding the classrooms in the next 10 years, Utah can't afford to keep losing teachers. A Utah State University study estimates the state will need an extra 1,175 new educators a year partly because of growth, partly because of attrition.

Teachers, we hope legislators hear your concerns, because we don't want to lose you.