Increasing Choice

• Backpack/Weighted-Student Funding
• Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship
• Charter Schools
• Concurrent Enrollment
• Dual Enrollment
• Empowerment & Innovation Schools (site-based management)
• Home Schools
• Open Enrollment
• Virtual/Online Schools

Empowering Parents

• Charter Schools
• Empowerment & Innovation Schools (site-based management)
• School Community Councils
• School Parent Organization Options

Transparency

• Backpack/Weighted-Student Funding
• Financial Transparency/Open-checkbook
• Simplified Funding Mechanisms
• Sunshine Laws

Efficiency in Funding

• Accountability for percentage of funding going directly into the classroom
• Backpack/Weighted-Student Funding
• Concurrent Enrollment and Early College Credit
• Empowerment & Innovation Schools
• Simplified Funding Mechanisms

Quality Instruction

• Alternative Teacher Certification
• Alternative Routes to Licensure
• Differential Pay
• Equal Access by Professional Teacher Associations
• Math Initiative
• Performance/Merit Pay
• Rigorous Course Options

Backpack Funding
Through Backpack Funding, education dollars follow the student to the public school he or she attends.  Schools are given autonomy to decide how to spend those dollars.  And parents are empowered to choose the best public school for their child.

The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship
The Carson Smith Scholarship empowers parents with the opportunity to find the best environment to meet their child's unique needs.  This budget-efficient program has benefited hundreds of Utah families