I'm a Utah transplant as many today are. I've lived in Utah County (Springville) since 2005. My husband and I moved here when I accepted a position with the Positive Behavior Support Initiative acting as a consultant and a professional developer with schools in Nebo and Provo School Districts. I had the opportunity to observe and be involved with schools from Goshen to South Provo. It was then I learned that Utah had the lowest (at that time) per pupil spending in the NATION, and that Nebo School District received the lowest in Utah! Currently (as of the 2016-2017 report) Nebo's per pupil expenditure is the 4th lowest in Utah.
My husband and I (pictured above in 2007) have been married 27 years (in July 2018) and between us have 4 children and 9 grandchildren. We enjoy family time and attend our grandchildren's school and community events in Utah County. We've been delighted by ballroom dance performances, band concerts, choral performances, karate belt advancements and competitions, art exhibitions, Grandparents' days, and church programs.
Personally, I completed my Ph.D. in Educational Leadership in 2011 and have worked as an academic helping prepare new teachers. I enjoy the outdoors, biking, hiking, crosscountry skiing, reading historical fiction, gardening, and quilting when I can make the time.
Issues
Education Schools are underfunded, which means students aren't provided resources they need. Teachers are underpaid and yet continue to pay out of pocket or write grants to meet their students' needs. To be fair, Utah has a high student (K-12) population and the state currently spends about 23% of its budget on education. However we need to do better. We can look at current tax structures and find ways to realign or reallocate funding. We can adjust WPU funding. We can listen to the education community.
Environment We live in a beautiful place! Unfortunately, through our success in keeping and attracting people to Utah through jobs, beauty, and recreation, we've increased our polluting footprint. We need joint efforts among businesses and citizens to reverse this trend. Expanding transportation options with lines and schedules to make it a "no-brainer" to use is one possibility. Together we can find solutions.
Poverty Within the boundaries of House District 65 approximately 8% of households receive food stamps, which is one indicator of poverty. Another indicator is housing situations. In Springville (just part of our District), about 40% of renting households (about 15% of Springville's households) could be considered "rent overburdened", spending more than 30% of their income on rent. For minimum wage earners, that means working the equivalent of 90 hours/week just to afford rent! I believe we can make adjustments to wages, to how we include affordable housing in communities, and to how we coordinate services that would include our poorest citizens in their plans for getting a hand up.