Utah House speaker outlines his goals for Utah’s education ahead of 2025 legislative session
Jan 16, 2025, 12:00 PM | Updated: 1:43 pm
House Speaker Mike Schultz speaks during a press conference to announce state action for Utah public lands at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. With the upcoming legislative session, House Speaker Mike Schultz said Utah's education is a top priority. He has a few goals. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — With the upcoming legislative session, Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said education is a top priority.
Schultz told KSL NewsRadio that Utah universities collaborate really well with its high schools thanks to legislation.
He highlighted Weber State and Utah Valley University as two of the best at this. They offer concurrent enrollment classes to high school students.
Concurrent enrollment classes allow high school students to earn college credit before beginning college. Schultz said Utah leads the nation in concurrent enrollment students thanks to Weber and UVU.
“The ideas behind this whole higher ed reform is to expand programs like that and to lower the cost of tuition,” Schultz said. “So that’s really what we’re focusing on as well as CTE [classes].”
CTE stands for Career and Technical Education. The Utah State Board of Education website describes these classes as allowing “all students access to high-quality, rigorous career-focused programs that result in attainment of credentials with labor market value.”
“We have a society right now and an economy that is demanding those types of employees and we’re not fulfilling them,” Schultz said. “We have kids that are wanting to do this, but in many cases, don’t have the programs in their high schools.”
What role should the Legislature play in Utah’s education?
Schultz said he believes Utah legislators should offer guidance for the state’s education goals and policies and then the Board of Education can work out the details.
“I do think it’s important that the Legislature continues to stay involved to make sure those policies are created,” he said. “But, I don’t think that it should be so prescriptive that it doesn’t allow for innovation to happen inside the schools and allow for some autonomy in school districts and university presence to fit what works for them best.”
However, Schultz said schools have a responsibility to follow the “intent” of the policies set by the Legislature.
NPR reports a dip in college enrollment and graduation across the nation. Schultz doesn’t expect college enrollment to peak in the Beehive State until between 2030 and 2032, because the state has so many children.
In the meantime, Schultz said this gives legislators an opportunity to prep Utah’s higher education for that peak.
“[We want to help Utah] get ahead and be prepared for what we know is coming, and to operate a little leaner and more efficient,” he said.
The upcoming legislative session is more accessible to Utahns “now more than ever,” according to Schultz.
People looking to follow Utah’s upcoming legislative session can visit le.utah.gov. Here they can follow every vote, listen to live debates and more. Schultz also encouraged Utahns to visit Capitol Hill.
“We enjoy the public comment [and] we work really hard to make sure the voices are listened to,” he said. “Your input does influence the outcome… Get involved and please participate in the process.”
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