SALT LAKE CITY — As people in Utah wait to see what happens with the Trump Administration’s plan to shut down the Department of Education, we spoke with a state senator who’s also a concerned teacher.
An advocate for a parents’ organization, though, told us she would welcome a change.
“If it does happen, and we start going down this path, Utah is ready,” said Corinne Johnson, Co-Founder of Utah Parents United.
Johnson made it clear she wouldn’t mind seeing the federal Department of Education dismantled and seeing Utah step up.
“So, we’re not concerned about the funding going away, we want it back. We believe Utah can do a really good job of educating our kids in Utah,” said Johnson.
She believes it would be better if Utahns’ tax dollars stayed in the state, going directly to Utah schools.
“Tax dollars that fund Title 1 schools, and fund the Department of Education, those come from Utah taxpayers,” said Johnson. “And so, if the federal department is abolished then that money comes back to Utah, we are able to take those funds and use them to fund Title 1 schools.
State Senator Kathleen Riebe, though has reservations about the dismantling of the Department of Education.
“I’m concerned about our most vulnerable students and how that’s going to impact them,” said Riebe.
Riebe said she’s also concerned about what that would mean for the state’s budget.
“How much are we going to have to make up?” said Riebe. “And what supports do we think we take for granted, might not be there anymore. That is the concern with every department, not just education
And, she said she wants to be sure students who need an organization to look out for them, have that back-up.
“I’m sure that there’s no district that’s trying to intentionally do harm to students, but the same regard is that sometimes we do need that federal oversight to make sure that we are doing best practices.”
