This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Local school board races matter! Unlike state representatives, board members are elected only once every four years. Local boards hire the local superintendent; they set policies for hiring and evaluating teachers, and board members frequently participate in selecting teachers and school administrators in neighborhood schools.
They make final decisions about student discipline. They set school schedules and have financial and policy influence on reducing class sizes. Board members decide if the district will support a specialized charter school — or if a creative charter application should be sent to be chartered by the state, where the district has no control of the school's budget or employees.
Two, three or four board members are elected in every district in Utah every two years!
In terms of local education policies, textbooks, bus routes, technology choices and graduation rates — board members' priorities matter more than the Governor's.
Most Wasatch Front school districts have primary elections to narrow the field on June 24. Vote.
We should choose board members with the expertise to spend public money creatively and wisely.
Carol Barlow Lear
Salt Lake City