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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The Utah State Board of Education has debated requiring that school districts hand over this information to charters. Without any agreement, they’re going back to the drawing board
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Lawmakers increased Utah’s per-pupil funding by 5%, which is 1.2% more than they were required to increase it.
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Utah lawmakers passed a recording-breaking 591 bills during the 2024 legislative session. Gov. Spencer Cox has until March 21 to either sign or veto them. If he does neither, the laws automatically go into effect.
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The bill requires all schools to either have a school resource officer, an armed security guard, an armed and trained employee or “school guardian.”
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The problem Utah educators have with the bill is that it doesn’t provide any state funding to make up for the funds schools will lose.
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The bill also allows Utah school districts to sidestep a statewide student health and risk prevention survey without risking funding.
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The father of the student targeted on social media by Natalie Cline said it wasn’t “the resolution we were hoping for, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
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The Utah State Board of Education can not remove Natalie Cline from her position, but the board unanimously voted to ask her to resign.
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The bill would prohibit Utah teachers from hanging a pride flag in their classroom and ban other things viewed as endorsing a specific “political or social belief.”
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The social media post from a Utah State Board of Education member “broke my heart,” said Rachel van der Beek, the student-athlete’s mother.
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Senate President Stuart Adams and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla appeared together during Senate media availability to present a united front. When asked about impeachment, Adams said “I think we're looking at those issues.”
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Instead of equity in education, the amended rule now focuses on “equal opportunity” — a phrase that comes from the new law recently signed by the governor.