Oppose Republican Resolution on Partisan School Board Elections

There is a new resolution that will be proposed in the 2014 Utah Republican Nominating Convention on April 26, 2014 that you may want to review asap.  We are asking that, for those of you who are Republican, to contact your Republican delegates immediately and ensure they vote NO on the Resolution to Promote Partisan School Board Elections.  Here is some helpful background:

·        The resolution is titled Resolution to Promote Partisan School Board Elections and is at the end of this post and can also be found on the Utah Republican Party website at:  http://www.utgop.org/utgop.asp where you can “click here to view submitted Amendments and Resolutions that will be considered at the convention.”  It is the fourth displayed item.

·        Astoundingly, the resolution states that “. . . most school board members seem to welcome federal control of education, and fail to understand that states are (or should be) sovereign with respect to education, . . .”  and then resolves that “legislators affiliated with the Utah Republican Party are encouraged to enact and support legislation that would make candidates for Utah’s State Board of Education and school districts subject to partisan nomination and election .”

 

·        The resolution to be considered by the upcoming Republican convention has only 6 sponsors listed in support.  The chief sponsor is Oak Norton, a resident of Utah County who remains regularly agitated about public education.

 

·        Partisan politics has no place in the State Board and certainly not in our local school boards of education.  A bill to support partisan state school board elections in the most recent legislative session was strongly opposed by UEA and it failed.  This Republican resolution concerning local school boards clearly does not reflect the view of Utah’s public and the parents whose children attend our neighborhood schools. 

 

In order to oppose this resolution, you will need to contact the Republican delegates and state leaders from your area that are invited to attend the 2014 Utah Republican Nominating (State) Convention on April 26, 2014.  Thus, your contact must occur before April 26^th.  Delegate contact information can be found by calling the Utah Republican Party offices at 801-533-9777 and asking for the names of your state Republican delegates.  Knowing your precinct is helpful.  Thank you!

Resolution to Promote Partisan School Board Elections

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will become the philosophy of government in the next;” and,

WHEREAS, experience shows that the views of school board members find their way into the classroom; and,

 WHEREAS, most citizens do not know how school board members view important issues such as religious reedom, state and family sovereignty, private property, Second Amendment, limited government, and American Exceptionalism; and,

 WHEREAS, the Republican Party has an excellent vetting system by which grassroots-elected delegates can identify who among the candidates will best adhere to the principles in our party platform, most notably the principles of fiscal responsibility and local control of education; and,

 WHEREAS, approximately 65% of our state budget goes to education; and,

 WHEREAS, school district budgets, whose district officers are determined via non-partisan elections, in some cases exceed county budgets, whose county officers are determined via partisan elections; and,

 WHEREAS, most school board members seem to welcome federal control of education, and fail to understand that states are (or should be) sovereign with respect to education; and,

 WHEREAS, in Texas—where school board elections are partisan—when “Common Core” was presented to the states, Texas rejected it and created their own high-quality standards; and,

 WHEREAS, choosing school board members via partisan election is not about partisanship in education, but is about ensuring the selection of candidates whose principles match those found in the party platform.

 WHEREAS, state school board nominees are currently selected by an unelected panel—unaccountable to the public,

 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, legislators affiliated with the Utah Republican Party are encouraged to enact and support legislation that would make candidates for Utah’s State Board of Education and school districts subject to partisan nomination and election; and,

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT delegates to the Utah Republican Party Convention are encouraged

to research and vet state and local school board candidates, in order to identify the candidate(s) who will best support limited government and local control of education; and,

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Utah Republican Party is encouraged to host debates for state school board candidates and conduct a straw poll among state delegates, wherein state delegates living within a given state school board district may cast a non-binding vote for their choices of state school board members, and that the results of this straw poll be made public on the party web site; and,

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT county parties are encouraged to host debates for school board

candidates and conduct straw polls among county delegates, wherein county delegates living within local school board districts may cast a non-binding vote for their choices of local district board members, and that the results of these straw polls be made public on county party web sites.

 Respectfully submitted to the Utah Republican Party on March 26, 2014

 Sponsor: Oak Norton, HI 07         

Co-Sponsors: Kimberly Park, TA 11, Jennifer Orten, HI 06, Tina Okolowitz, Orem 38, Marie Nuccitelli, LE16, and Aaron Hymas, MAG004

 

 

SAGE Message from Utah Superintendent Martell Menlove

Superintendents and Charter Administrators,

 

There have been multiple instances the past few days of what I believe are serious violations of test security and testing protocols.

 

It is inappropriate for anyone, students, teachers, proctors, media, etc., to take screen shots of any computer screen containing a test item or individual student information.  I believe the sharing of such a screen shot not only violates test security but is also illegal and violates copyright laws.

 

Testing environments need to be maintained to assure accurate testing of students without outside interference.  Only those authorized educators should be in the room(s) while testing is occurring. 

 

I sent a document Monday concerning opting-out of testing.  Parents have the right to opt students out of testing.  However, this right is not extended to anyone other than a child’s parent or guardian.   I believe it is a violation of testing protocol and educator ethics for a licensed educator to encourage or suggest that individual students or groups of students not participate fully in State administered testing.

 

Please communicate with all licensed educators that those involved in sharing, or allowing the sharing, of any SAGE, DWA or other State assessment items will be referred to the Utah Professional Practices Commission and action may be taken against their teacher license.  This includes the requirement that all testing protocols will be followed.  Additionally, those who do not honor a parent’s right to opt out of testing, or those who inappropriately encourage or facilitate opting-out will also be referred to the Utah Professional Practices Commission for possible action against their license.

 

Thanks again for all your efforts to provide quality educational opportunities for Utah students.

 

Martell Menlove, Ph.D.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

UEA President's Message April 2014 - SAGE

All of us who have been administering the SAGE assessments know about the problems from system crashes to students needs multiple hours to complete the test.  Please respond to the surveys about SAGE you will receive the week following Spring Break.