Building Utah’s Future Through Strong Public Schools

I believe public education should be the most funded, most protected, and most deeply resourced public good we have. No qualifiers. No apologies. If we say we care about the future, then our budgets, our policies, and our priorities should reflect that commitment. Education is the foundation everything else rests on—our economy, our democracy, and our shared quality of life. It is not an expense to be managed down. It is the smartest investment we can make in the kind of future we say we want.

Here in Utah, we ask a lot of our public schools. And despite ranking near the bottom nationally in per-student spending, our educators still show up every single day— sparking curiosity, building critical thinking skills, and helping students make sense of a complex, rapidly changing world. Public education is not just about academics. It is about preparing kids to live, to work, and to participate meaningfully in a diverse, democratic society. Our schools carry enormous responsibility, and educators have met that responsibility with professionalism, creativity, and care, even when the system has failed to meet them in return.

I believe deeply in the idea of "infinite diversity in infinite combinations"— the belief that the strength of our future lies in the breadth of our perspectives, the mix of our backgrounds, and our ability to imagine together. Public education is where that vision becomes real. It is where young people learn not only the skills they need to thrive, but how to live with, learn from, and collaborate across our differences. That makes public schools essential to opportunity, resilience, and social cohesion.

Schools are both the anchors and the engines of strong communities. When schools thrive, neighborhoods thrive. When schools are underfunded or turned into ideological battlegrounds, the damage does not stay confined to the classroom. It ripples outward into families, local economies, and future generations. Government has a responsibility to fully fund public education, protect it from political interference, and trust educators as the trained professionals they are.

I am deeply future-oriented in how I think about policy, and nothing shapes the future more directly or more urgently than what happens in our classrooms today. If we want a Utah that is creative, resilient, and prepared for the next century, then we must treat public education like the critical infrastructure it is, not like a line item we argue over year after year.

Right now, the most pressing issue facing public education in Utah is literacy. Nearly half of our students are not reading at grade level, and that should concern every parent, educator, and policymaker in the state. This is not a partisan talking point; it is the reality in our classrooms. If students cannot read, they cannot fully access math, science, history, or the arts. Literacy is the foundation everything else is built on.

That is why I am focused on early literacy, evidence-based instruction, and sustained investment in programs that improve outcomes. This includes funding early intervention, supporting literacy specialists and librarians, increasing staffing where it matters most, and reducing class sizes in the years when reading skills are formed. We should be following the science of how children learn, not chasing ideological distractions. Time spent on censorship, book bans, or politicizing curriculum is time taken away from solving the real challenges students face.

We also cannot improve student outcomes without addressing educator burnout and retention. Utah continues to ask teachers to do more with less, while subjecting them to political hostility and public distrust. That approach is unsustainable. Supporting public education means supporting the people who make it work. Teachers should be among our highest-paid public employees, with manageable class sizes, paid planning time, reimbursement for classroom supplies, adequate support staff, and the respect their work deserves. These are not luxuries. They are the baseline requirements for a strong, functional public education system.

I believe in a well-rounded education that values the arts and humanities alongside STEM. Preparing students for the future does not mean turning schools into narrow job-training pipelines. We need strong science and technology education, but we also need arts, music, theater, history, literature, and philosophy to foster creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and cultural understanding. Innovation does not happen in a vacuum. The best problem-solvers are those who can think creatively, communicate clearly, and understand the human context of their work.

I am pro-teacher, pro-education, and pro-union. Educator unions are not obstacles to good policy; they are partners in building schools that work for students. No teacher should have to navigate a complex system alone when power, money, and politics are often stacked against them. When educators have a collective voice, students benefit. Union issues— class size, staffing levels, planning time, professional development, and school safety— are student issues.

Government officials should engage with educator unions early and honestly, as collaborators rather than adversaries. That means listening to those who have spent their careers in classrooms, respecting their expertise, and involving them before decisions are made. Trust matters. Relationships matter. When educators feel supported and respected, they thrive, and when teachers thrive, students benefit from stability, experience, and continuity.

My approach is simple. When elected, I will be a strong advocate for teachers and public education. I will work with educators, listen to them, and support policies that strengthen our schools. Public education shapes the future more than any other public institution we have, and I am committed to making sure it is funded, protected, and treated with the seriousness it deserves— for our students, our communities, and the future of Utah.