After staying neutral for a year, Utah’s largest teachers union opposes diverting money from education
But Thursday, UEA President Renée Pinkney announced the union’s board has now decided to oppose the change, declaring it “goes against our values and challenges what we stand for.” Utah’s constitution requires the state to spend income tax revenue on public and higher education and some social services, allowing the funds to also “support children and to support individuals with a disability.”
The union continued to wait during the 2024 session, Pinkney added, to see if there were any language changes to the proposed constitutional amendment and to learn more about conditional support from stakeholders. “With the voucher program, there isn’t any accountability in terms of that funding,” Pinkney said. “For the public school system, there are all kinds of accountability measures placed on educators and districts. And we’re all for standards, but we’re not for double standards.