Far too often, Republicans are eager to slash budgets in education, especially in rough economic times such as these. Thankfully, Representative Bradley Last (R – Saint George – District 71) is attempting to pass a bill that plans for our economic and educational future with HB 194 – Grants for Math Teacher Training.
The bill will give $250,000 to the State Board of Education so that it can award grants to colleges, universities, and non-profit educational groups who set up math teacher training courses.
My only real complaint is that I feel this bill does not go far enough for specialized education funding. I, of course, would like to see our state place a greater emphasis on the arts and science as well. Math is all well and good, but what good is it if all of our students are food eating computers? There needs to be something behind the calculations to make it all make sense. As we move away from a manufacturing and agricultural economy, more and more workers will need to think abstractly – they will need to be able to put the pieces together.
But, this bill is a good thing, we need to fund our schools and we need to produce quality teachers – even if it is in just one field.
