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KSL Newsradio's Mary Richards reportsLeaders at the Utah Education Association convention today are hoping to rally educators, and the legislature into putting more money into public schools.
Teachers will leave this convention with new yard signs, saying "No Excuses." It's the next phase of a push for more funding. UEA President Kim Campbell says she's getting more specific this year about what that investment will do.
"Lots of times we only talk about what it does for kids," she said. "But we have statistics that show that investing in public schools benefits the economy."
Campbell says even though lawmakers didn't do anything during the special session, she's hopeful the upcoming regular session will mean more money for schools. She wants to hire and keep teachers, and reduce class sizes.
School violence is also a big topic of convention at the convention, after recent cases of around the nation. Many teachers say it's shaken them to hear story after story of shootings at schools.
"I mean, it's very disconcerting, to begin with," said Altamont High School teacher Julie Seeley. She says she agrees with plans and drills, but thinks smaller classes will also help.
"It's important to have those plans in place, so that if something does happen, if it's an outsider, that we have some way of handling that. But stopping it from happening from within the school, I think the best thing it to get to know those kids," she said.
Seeley says she'd like to thing violence will never happen at her small school, but says no on is immune from tragedy.
Other topics are on tap at the convention. Fourth-grade teacher Richard Rigby came from near Logan, and has a number of workshops he's looking forward to.
"There's one on vocabulary, teaching kids vocabulary, that's good," said Rigby. "And also one on how to turn around teachers in schools, and closing the achievement gap."
The achievement gap is the big focus of this year's convention, so is a new push for more public-school funding.
