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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah students would take fewer electives and another year of math before being allowed to graduate under a proposal by the Democratic candidate for governor that's geared toward directing more students to college.
Peter Corroon released his education plan Monday, saying students who graduate with only the required 18 credits of core academic classes are unprepared for college or the work force.
"We will send a clear message to students, to parents, and to teachers alike that Utah schools are in the business of preparing young people to succeed in the real world," the plan says.
"Having more undereducated and unemployable teenagers on the streets hurts everyone -- these youths, the taxpayers, and the fabric of our society," Corroon's plan says.
Corroon wants to raise graduation requirements to 22 core credits and automatically enroll every high school student in a college preparatory program. Utah requires students to have 24 credits before graduating. Students could still opt out of the college track with parental consent, but they would have to sign documents acknowledging their chosen course load isn't on track to meet typical college entrance requirements.
"We will send a clear message to students, to parents, and to teachers alike that Utah schools are in the business of preparing young people to succeed in the real world," the plan says.
Corroon faces GOP Gov. Gary Herbert in a special election this fall and both candidates are linking education to economic development. Herbert has convened a commission to deliver him recommendations on how to improve education in the state by the end of the year. That commission will meet Tuesday.
For Corroon to defeat Herbert, he'll likely need to win over voters on education. It is an issue Corroon feels he can compete on, noting that Utah has the nation's largest class sizes and spends less per student than any other state. This year, lawmakers didn't fund an increase of 11,000 students, making most class sizes even larger.
Herbert notes that his efforts kept education from suffering large cuts, saying that was the reason he agreed to raise taxes on tobacco.
Corroon's plan doesn't call for any tax increases, but it does say some corporate tax breaks and incentives should be reviewed for possible elimination.
"Many of the tax incentives have been nothing more than corporate welfare, which takes money from our education system. Public education is being shortchanged," the plan says. "If property taxes for utilities had been allowed to grow commensurately with population and inflation, public education could be funded by an additional $90 million annually."
Corroon also calls for eliminating some sales tax exemptions and directing that money toward education.
Herbert said Corroon is effectively seeking a tax hike.
"Such a proposal would cost Utah jobs and have a hugely negative impact on our tax base, both of which would seriously hurt public education," Herbert said in a statement. "It would be nothing more than a tax hike waiting to happen."
How can someone who has never had first-hand experience with public education understand how it really works?
–Gov. Gary Herbert
Herbert didn't limit his criticism to Corroon's policy proposals, saying his "supposed support for public education borders on the hypocritical because he sends his children to private schools and was, himself, educated in private schools."
"How can someone who has never had first-hand experience with public education understand how it really works?" Herbert said in the statement, noting that his children and grandchildren attended public schools.
Herbert didn't mention that former GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman, whom Herbert served with as his lieutenant governor, also has children attending private schools and that Herbert attended the privately owned Brigham Young University after high school.
Corroon's three children attend a Catholic school a few blocks from their home.
"The mayor and his wife send their kids to their neighborhood school, which is part of their church and an important part of their faith," said Corroon spokeswoman Stella Thurkill. "It appears Gov. Herbert is trying to deflect the real attention from the facts -- Utah schools are underfunded, in fact 11,000 new students are not funded, and graduation rates are falling."
Among other things, Corroon wants any new revenue or redirected spending to go toward providing teacher incentives. That includes higher salaries to teachers who join a voluntary pay-for-performance model and those who teach in hard-to-fill positions, such as in math and science.
Corroon also proposes a "Teach for Utah" program in which qualified graduates of Utah universities who earn a teaching credential receive a year of student loan forgiveness for every year they teach in Utah public schools after graduation.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
