During the past year, a series of terminations and changes at the Utah State Office of Education may cause some readers to wonder what is happening. I do not intend to explain. I am not sure I could.
Instead I simply want to applaud the excellent work of those people who labor there. For 16 years, I served as a member of the State Board of Education, and for seven of those years I was the chair. In close, nearly daily observation, I can speak with some authority when I describe the commitment, the unwavering devotion and the hard work delivered by those people.
The Utah State Office of Education has been led by fine superintendents. Behind them have been an army of devoted workers. I think it would be difficult to speak too highly of people like Martell Menlove, Brenda Hales, Judy Park, Bruce Williams and others. They have moved on. The reasons are unclear to me. For me, I simply wish to publicly express my appreciation and thanks for the work done.
