UEA President Renée Pinkney responded to the Feb. 28 press conference by Utah Governor Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz, and Senate President Stewart Adams:
“The assertions made by Utah’s leadership are nothing more than political posturing that ignores the reality facing Utah’s public schools. While a salary increase is an important recognition of the education profession, Utah’s public schools remain underfunded, classrooms are overcrowded, and educators are struggling under the weight of unsustainable workloads.
“Educators across the state are burning out due to a severe lack of support, insufficient staffing, and the growing challenges of managing student needs without adequate behavioral support resources. Instead of addressing these urgent issues, anti-public education politicians continue to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars into private religious schools through their voucher scheme and starving our public schools of the resources they desperately need.
“Today, state leaders took credit for policies that educators fought for, not politicians. Paid maternity leave, professional planning time, and paid student teaching were all championed by members of the Utah Education Association, in collaboration with not handed down by lawmakers. Meanwhile, these same politicians pushed through a union-busting bill designed to silence educator voices, ignoring thousands of pleas from Utahns who demanded the protection of teachers’ collective bargaining rights.
“If Utah’s leaders are serious about supporting educators and students, they must invest in real, long-term solutions: respectable wages, sustainable staffing levels, classroom behavioral support, and fully funding public education instead of diverting millions to private interests.
“The members of the Utah Education Association will continue to fight for the resources, respect, and real solutions our students and educators deserve.”
