Reader comments
Utah test scores are startling

Don't think demographics has anything to do with this report. It's all about the quality of education and how badly teachers are stifiled by our corrupt and fraud ridden education system in Utah. Then others wonder why parents want to take their children out of the international education system in Utah and put them in private schools. The Utah legal citizens are being left behind in education just to encourage the illeal aliens hiding in Utah. Our schools are day care centers for the illegals and this is having a drastic affect on children getting educated, I mean the legal american citizens children. The board of education needs to leave the class rooms alone and let the teachers do their jobs they have trained and studied for, to teach open and uncensored classes. Get rid of the computers for students and give them back the books, it will increase reading levels and understanding of the maths and sciences. Books don't break down or have power failures like computers do and the material is always there. Corruption and fraud need to be cleaned up too and put the money in the class rooms where it belongs.

We are seeing the result of the educational establishment's unwillingness to discard their 19th century education model. Parents need to take charge of education for their kids and use the school as a resource, instead of turning the future of their kids over to a teacher that may or may not share their family's ideals.

Without competition, that is, without Utah schools being forced to improve (and they won't do it on their own), we will have the same old mediocre test results as this article indicates. I am a classroom teacher voting for Referendum 1.

Ummmmm, maybe it's because Utah won't use its huge tax surplus on schools. I would guess that the other states have smaller class sizes, more money per student, and higher teacher salaries. Utah's many years of stubbornness in not giving more money to the schools has brought this on. Invest in your schools.

Interesting this would come out just before the voucher vote. Regardless vote NO on vouchers and keep every dollar in the public school systems that are trying to help everyone. Since the beginning of time people who went to private school privately paid for it!.

Sadly, we can't do an apples to apples study because NO STATE IN THE COUNTRY FUNDS EDUCATION AT OUR LOW LEVEL.

We can't compare Utah to states with similar funding. No other state funds education at a level as low as Utah.

Interesting reading, but the article does not provide enough data to reach any reasonable conclusions. Was the author intentionally trying to misguide the reader, of just ignorant of proper interpretation of data? Considering the timing, just days before Utah votes on vouchers, it makes one suspicious that the author may have intentionally left out all the facts.

Couldn't help but wonder, with a small group of eight states, if the results were close enough that, statistically speaking, there is no significant difference between several of the states. Or is Utah significantly different than the top three states? No way of knowing from this article.

"That's a stark contrast to Utah's overall scores, which were overall above national averages and climbing."

Anything Utah does that is above average is a miracle considering we are last in the country in education spending.

We should be comparing that in this equation as well.

When that is taken into consideration my guess will be that we are once again at the top of the pack.

Was this some pro-voucher gov't handout group trying to tout vouchers again?

IF you are comparing apples to apples funding has to be included in the equation.

But look at our school buildings...Especially the new ones. They are built like Saddam's palaces. That is where our tax money is going. The upkeep and utilities must be extraordinary.

Well, if the anti-voucher crowd 'wins' the vote next week, what will they have won? The protection of a declining status quo system that offers nothing, absolutely nothing, by way of improvement. Just give us the money and please, please be quiet.

Utah students score higher than average on tests. That is good news. We also have one of the highest graduation rates, as was mentioned in a story earlier this week. Where's the bad news?

This story seems to be intentionally putting a negative spin on it. No numbers are given, so how much worse are we than the similar states we are talking about. Is it that all states were within 2% of each other and we are just the lowest, or are our test scores 20% lower. Doesn't say so you think the workst. Lame article.

Thowing more money at public schools will not fix the test scores. There need to be meaningful eductaion reform.

Education needs to come from the home first and foremost, but the schools need to pick up where the parents left off. It would do no good to teach my kids and then have them go to school only to have the teacher teach them what they already know. My solution isn't vouchers, but placement testing. These placement testings will allow 1 or 2 classes to be designed for kids who are highly educated vs kids who are not.

No mention of Investigations/TERC math either. California saw its math scores drop after adoption of that math program, and saw them rise after getting rid of it and going back to a more traditional math program.

Utah ranks last.....AMONG FIVE STATES CHOSEN FROM THE TOP.

Okay...

For a moment I actually was going to read the article, but when credibility was thrown out on the first paragraph what was the point.

If this doesn't say we need more choice, I don't know what does. Education of our children needs to step up to the requirements of the 21st century. The status quo is tired and needs to adapt. Money isn't the answer, leadership is the answer.

I know when we moved down from Alaska, all 6 of our kids which are still in public school found Utah schools VERY easy. The grades of all 6 shot up (and they were all honor roll students to begin with).

At first I thought it was a good thing, but then we realized that our kids spend less than half the time doing homework than they used to. Not only do I worry they are not learning as much here in Utah, but all this new found spare time is a concern. Whereas 90% of their time on a computer, for example, was homework in Alaska, now 60% or better of that computer time is Facebook and other socializing.

I'm sure parents with kids hyper-involved in soccer, dance, music, etc. appreciate the light workload, but frankly, we'd like to feel more assured that our kids were being well educated.

Well if the anti-voucher crowd wins the vote next week, what will they have won? A declining status quo system with no, absolutely no, prospects for improvement. Just give us the money and please, please be quiet about it. Every rabid anti-voucher person I have heard from is usually someone who has a self-interest in the status quo (employed by or family employed by the current system). A very wise soul said once "self-interest is no principle, it's just self-interest". Referendum 1 YES, "Let freedom ring"

It is the low ability and drive of Unionized teachers that cause the problem