Why are home-grown, college trained teachers in decline?
Our education team has spent some serious time crunching the numbers to get a clearer picture of Utah's teacher shortage. What we've found has been fascinating, so over the last several weeks we've been talking with the media about the data, trying to get the word out about this important issue.

We can sum up the findings into two main points:
1. Over the last decade, we've had a significant decline in the number of new teachers coming from university teaching programs in Utah.
2. Getting more of these "traditionally trained" teachers is critical to having a healthy teacher workforce for our students.

So why does it matter if we have fewer traditionally trained teachers? While we don't have data on the relative effectiveness of teachers, we do know that teachers who were trained and recommended for licensure by a Utah university program leave the classroom at substantially lower rates than teachers who earned their licenses in other ways.
By contrast, some other teachers leave the profession more than twice as often as their traditionally trained colleagues, but these teachers make up a large and growing portion of our new teachers, meaning a critical part of our teacher workforce leaves every year.

Teacher turnover is incredibly costly to schools in terms of both money and student outcomes. It's critical we act now and do more to recruit students into Utah universities' teacher training programs. Working together, we can build a healthy teacher workforce and ensure the quality of Utah schools for the long term, providing every Utah child with a great education. You can visit myeducationourfuture.org to learn more about things we can all do to improve our education outcomes!
Point of the Mountain: Work to begin on Phase 3
We're pleased to announce that the Point of the Mountain Development Commission has approved work to begin on Phase 3 of our Point of the Mountain visioning efforts. Phase 3 will involve several different strategies to sustain momentum to make the vision for the region a reality:

1. Coordinate with transportation agencies and others on regional and local transportation plans. Continued work will be needed to integrate the recommended transportation improvements into the next update with regional and local transportation plans.

2. Present to city councils and coordinate with cities. We will present to each of the eight city councils to coordinate and move the vision forward as cities refine the land use and transportation elements of their general plans.

3. Coordinate with the POM Development Commission and the POM State Land Authority. Frequent and ongoing coordination will be assumed with both the full Commission and new Authority.

4. Initiate micro-transit coordination. The POM vision recommends exploring micro-transit options in Lehi and Draper. This exploration will require coordination among the cities, UTA, WFRC, MAG, and local businesses. We will convene the initial discussions to build momentum toward a full exploration.

5. Meet with groups and agencies to build support for the vision. The elements for the POM Vision include recreation, education, air quality, and other facets to make the area an attractive place to be with a great quality of life. Envision Utah will meet with and present to appropriate groups as needed.

Please stay tuned for other updates as we begin the important work on Phase 3! You can learn more about the POM vision in its entirety by visiting pointofthemountainfuture.org.
How Envision Utah gets to work
For the month of June we've been highlighting the creative and sustainable ways Envision Utah staff commute. Check out our social media accounts to watch the short highlight videos. And don't forget to follow us!

Both winter and summer bring harmful air quality to the Wasatch Front, and even though we're seeing a trend toward cleaner cars, they still account for around half of the dangerous air we breathe during bad air days. The good news is there are lots of things we can do to improve our air quality, starting with a commitment to a more sustainable commute!
Support Envision Utah!
We greatly appreciate all of our contributors for enabling us to carry out these efforts. Please consider a donation to support Envision Utah today!
In the news
KUER
More new Utah teachers are finding an alternate way into education jobs. Only about one-third of new teachers come from teacher training programs. And while the alternate route is a viable path to the classroom, it comes with the added challenge of teacher retention.
Idaho Press
The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho is looking to the rail system in the Salt Lake City area as an example of what might work in the Treasure Valley region.

Utah Business
The Wasatch Back is booming. Job growth in Wasatch and Morgan Counties is five times that of the nation. It's important that we look to the future so we can make sure growth doesn't "kill the goose that lays the golden egg."


Envision Utah | (801) 303-1450 | envisionutah.org