This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Lynn Stoddard ("Brilliant way to transform public education," Opinion, Aug. 10) supports Sen. Aaron Osmond's forthcoming bill to eliminate compulsory education. Permit me to describe his edutopia.

Each student will set up a class schedule with custom hours of the day, days of the week and months of the year. The curriculum will include only materials meeting the needs of that student. Hybrid combinations of home and public schooling could be devised for anyone. Perhaps publishers could be commissioned to write texts on a per-student basis. Teachers will provide constant one-on-one tutoring if needed.

Graduation requirements would be whatever the student and parents wanted. Specifics could of course be altered constantly at the whims of the students or parents. Let's get the cafeteria involved: mac 'n cheese for one student, duck-under-glass for the next. Oh, and athletics! Teams for bowling, hang gliding and sharpshooting.

The Legislature will happily increase funding by a factor of 10 (100?) to accommodate this. (Unless only one eligible child out of 100 attends.) They will also need to send some money to both in- and out-of-state colleges, who will hire people to evaluate the custom, 300-page diplomas that Utah districts will provide to document exactly what each applicant did and did not learn.

Best of all, Utah's laughingstock reputation will be assured.

John Burton

Magna