This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A narrow majority of Utahns appear to oppose the idea of outgoing House Speaker Becky Lockhart becoming the state's next schools superintendent, according to a recent poll.
About 52 percent of those surveyed said they somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the idea of Lockhart taking the state's top education spot, according to a UtahPolicy.com poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.
Lockhart confirmed in August that she has applied for the position, which is open after the retirement of former state Superintendent Martell Menlove. The state school board ultimately will choose the next superintendent.
She also said in late August that she didn't want to comment further on her application out of respect for the state school board's hiring process. Candidates for superintendent have not otherwise been made public.
Lockhart said in a statement Monday: "The Utah Constitution clearly states that the appointment of the State Superintendent is a duty reserved exclusively for the State Board of Education. I stand by my previous statements and continue to have faith that the members of the Board will consider my application fairly and on its unique merits."
The survey was conducted earlier this month among 400 likely voters and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.
As part of the survey, those polled were told that Lockhart has a nursing degree and has served on the boards of directors for hospitals but has not been a public school educator or board member. Those polled were also told that Lockhart has worked on education issues as a lawmaker and proposed more funding for school technology.
This past legislative session, the Provo Republican pushed to put a digital device in the hands of every Utah student. But that measure, priced at hundreds of millions of dollars, failed, with many lawmakers saying it was too expensive.
The poll also found that many Utahns don't know much about Lockhart.
About 38 percent of respondents said they had never heard of the speaker, and another 21 percent said they had heard of her but had no opinion about her.
"That's my biggest takeaway, is people either had no opinion or didn't know who she was," said Bryan Schott, managing editor of UtahPolicy.com.
The poll also showed that most Utahns believe "the superintendent needs to be a former certified teacher or school administrator with an advanced degree." About 71 percent either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with that statement.
"People don't know who she is even though she was the speaker of the House, and I think that the fact that she's not working in education, I think that's also working against her here," Schott said, "so I think it's sort of a double-edged sword against her."
Utah Education Association President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh said last month that she'd rather see someone with experience as a public school educator get the job.
Others, however, such as Rep. Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, who worked with Lockhart on the technology initiative, have said Lockhart would make a good superintendent. He said her understanding of the Legislature would help her in the job, considering how closely the state superintendent must work with lawmakers, who set the state's education budget.