NGA convened Governors’ education policy advisors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to share gubernatorial education strategies with each other and learn from national and state experts through panel conversations and small group discussions.
Students from around the state competed for $5000 in prizes at the Utah Civic Learning Collaborative Summer Showcase at Utah Valley University on June 14.
Rep. Melissa Garff Ballard, a Republican lawmaker representing N. Salt Lake, has for the second time proposed a set of bills that would reduce the number of elected state board members from 15 to nine, and for those seats to be appointed by the governor. H. B. 79 would also change the length of a board member’s term from four years to six years, and set up term limits of no more than two consecutive six-year terms.
Credit Albert Herring / Tulane Public Relations
There is a lot of concern about the idea of teaching critical race theory in schools and how it could impact students. Last month, Utah’s State Legislature passed a resolution making recommendations to the Utah State Board of Education about critical race theory. But what is it and is it being taught in Utah?
Marisela Martinez-Cola teaches sociology at Utah State University and said critical race theory was born out of an effort of people in the 70 s beginning to ask tough questions about the situations they were a part of.
“Critical legal study said law is not as pure as I think most of us had hoped it would be. That you would just apply it and it s done. We need to be able to look at the power dynamics involved. People who are in poverty lose cases, much more frequently than people who have the money to be able to work in the system,“ said Martinez-Cola. “Other legal scholars began to say, well, if we re going to center pow