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Business coalition to examine Utah education

The collective expertise and energy of Utah’s business community will be focused on the challenges of education through a coalition
announced by Gov. Mike Leavitt.
As the primary "customers" of Utah’s educational output, business has an inherent interest in the well-being of both public and higher
education in the state, Leavitt said. "A growing work force is one of our most valued economic assets."

By Twila Van Leer
Deseret News staff writer

The confluence of two factors — an expected bulge in demands on education and an economic downturn in the state — are impetus for a
close examination of education’s role, the governor said.
"It’s clear to me that we are on a course that will require us to make important decisions and develop strategy," Leavitt said.

He introduced Fraser Bullock, Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee president and CEO, as chairman of the Employers Education
Coalition. Others on the steering committee are Teresa Beck, management consultant and former president of American stores; Dinesh Patel,
partner, vSpring Capital; Kelly Matthews, vice president, Wells Fargo Bank; Paul Ross, president, Allient technology; and Fred
Lampropoulous, chairman and president, Merit Medical. The Utah Foundation, an independent, nonprofit public policy research organization,
will provide technical support.

Leavitt and others were to meet with the leaders of every major business association to promote cooperation and participation in the
coalition, which is expected to make recommendations to Leavitt and the Legislature this fall.
"A focus on education is the best investment we can make in the future," Bullock said. He said the coalition will have five objectives: To
understand the current trends and directions in education; to assess the viability of the education system and its current financing; to
establish objectives that match business needs and the educational "product"; to develop a mechanism to track progress and to make a
series of recommendations to the state’s policy leaders.

Education leaders welcomed the coalition.

"The potential is very, very positive," said Cecelia Foxley, commissioner for higher education. "When education representatives speak
about our needs, it can be interpreted as self-serving. If these business representatives can see a need for more investment in education, it
could carry more weight."
Gary L. Carlston, deputy superintendent for public instruction, also called creation of the coalition a "positive move." "Public education is a
community effort. All segments of the community who participate and try to improve the system can help make it stronger. It helps
democracy, the quality of life and the support of education."

While business approaches to solving financial problems might not always apply to education, there is common ground that will make the
coalition’s input valuable, he said.
In a press release, the Utah Taxpayers Association, which numbers most of Utah’s businesses among its membership, also supported
the coalition.

"We are hopeful by bringing employers together to address the problems of education in Utah, we can improve the quality of Utah’s
educational product," said Howard Stephenson, president of the association and a member of the Utah Senate.
More money has been traditionally viewed as the answer to education’s problems, he said "And we realize that funding must be found to
educate 100,000 new kids entering the system by the year 2010. But before any new funding sources are provided, taxpayers must be sure
that the new money will not be used to simply continue the current lethargic, unresponsible administration of public education."

The association hopes to influence a more business-like approach to education administration and encourages more efficient use of the
tax money being appropriated to education through competitive programs like private and charter schools, less "elegant" school buildings,
more priority for classroom staffing and other elemental changes.

Meaningful reform will be achieved only when the public education management approach is changed and accountability is increased
through expanded customer choice, the UTA release says.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,405013519,00.html

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