Gov. Gary Herbert’s office reported in November 2014 that, in anticipation of major population growth by 2050, the state needs to make short- and long-term plans to get education on track toward serious improvement. More people in the state means a growing need for quality educators. Now is a good time to focus on what it takes to reduce teacher attrition in Utah.
Some suggestions from the Utah Foundation are to increase salaries, link salaries to student test scores and performance and reduce class sizes. But authors Frank Adamson and Linda Darling-Hammond find that compensation schemes often fall flat, and class sizes are most often linked to the average size of Utah families, with a good teacher able to succeed no matter the class size. And instead of merely increasing salaries, teachers want to work at the best schools where more resources are available to help teachers and students succeed.
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