
Martha Harris
Education ReporterMartha is KUER’s education reporter and comes to us from KSL NewsRadio. They spent time interning for Wyoming Public Radio, KUER, and Oregon Public Broadcasting. Martha studied journalism at Brigham Young University and grew up in Portland, Oregon. And while they miss Oregon’s rain, they love Utah’s mountains. When they’re not working, you can probably find Martha at a concert, running, or listening to musicals.
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Utah’s governor said he was disappointed “the process did not ultimately deliver the compromise” that was on the table. The state’s largest teachers union said lawmakers have “ignored thousands of voices.”
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Salt Lake City is planning to tear down the Fleet Block so it can redevelop the site. For families who have a loved one painted on the east building walls, it's a sacred memorial.
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The sound of hundreds of voices yelling “veto” could be heard on every floor of the Utah State Capitol Friday. Just a day before, lawmakers passed a bill to ban public labor union collective bargaining.
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GOP leadership ditched a deal that would’ve allowed some collective bargaining because they didn’t get the positive response they wanted from unions and their members. Democrats and the state’s largest teachers union are asking Gov. Spencer Cox to veto the bill.
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Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore said he’s gotten mixed messages from public unions and their members on his proposal to allow some collective bargaining. Without a consensus, he said they’ll likely press ahead with a full ban.
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“Lawmakers heard us, they heard you. And while this fight is not over, it's a testament to what's possible when public workers stand in solidarity,” Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney said.
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Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore promised a substitute bill to allow for collective bargaining under certain circumstances. Senators took an initial vote without seeing the alternative.
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While Utah largely outperformed national averages, fourth and eighth grade math and reading scores still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.
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Lawmakers said they’ve received hundreds of messages from people opposed to the bill, but it still passed the House on a 42-to-32 vote.
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Utahns ages 18-to-20 can already carry a concealed gun, but House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee’s bill would allow them to carry it openly.
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Updated guidance from Utah State Board of Education staff clarifies that students can’t bring to school their personal copies of books deemed “sensitive material.”
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Utah public universities and colleges will see a 10% cut to their state-funded instruction budgets. The proposed bill would then allow the schools to earn that money back.