State right to ignore fed mandates on schools

While the Legislature has tried to improve state education with more money and isolated programs, success has been limited and a drain of tax dollars. Lawmakers should take the initiative in rethinking the state's governance structure, including the State Board of Education, which has been a major problem. Legislators have talked about state education goals, which if preceded with a renewing of Utah's education mission to reflect the needs of today's global economy, would provide the leadership needed to improve education for the 21st century.

Lawmakers should ignore the current federal programs that have been in transition for the last seven years and restructure the state's education governance system to meet our needs, rather than being driven by money and programs from Washington. Besides, with new political leadership taking office next January, the current federal policies will be scrapped for new programs, and state education administrators will rush to change policies to chase federal money. Perhaps the best model for defining the role of federal government was that created by former President George H.W. Bush who convened the Charlottesville Education Summit in 1998. He brought in all the nation's governors to establish six national goals — Goals 2000. It simply gave a national direction for states to consider.

Our state leaders should not wait for Washington to determine how we ought to provide our children with a world-class education. We should do it ourselves.

---

A Utah native, John Florez has founded several Hispanic civil rights organizations; been on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch, served on more than 45 state, local and volunteer boards; and filled White House appointments, including deputy assistant secretary of labor and as a member of the commission on Hispanic education. E-mail: jdflorez@comcast.net