“Free from many administrative burdens and unrealistic public expectations, microschools are a path to keeping qualified teachers in the classroom rather than burning out of the profession,” writes Christine Cooke Fairbanks.
Students attend class at Acton Academy St. George, a "microschool" in St. George, Utah. Microschools could become easier to open under a newly proposed bill that would allow them to be established nearly anywhere in Utah.Launching later this year, the scholarship will mean an uptick in the number of families adopting innovative education models, includingof the “one-room schoolhouse,” where instruction is customized to fit the needs of each class.
Because SB13 was a land use bill, the legislation authorizes municipal leaders to answer the very questions about traffic, parking, noise or safety that have been listed asabout microschools during public debates. These are legitimate questions, and the bill aims to help address them. Legal clarity will also provide predictability to microschool leaders who want to start or continue their offerings.
Furthermore, microschools already exist in Utah. Neither the UFA scholarship program nor SB13 created microschools. Against the backdrop of an already growing interest in choice, the COVID-19 pandemic changed our culture and expectations surrounding education forever. In that sense, SB13 and UFA scholarships were overdue. But Utah has taken the opportunity to further prepare for shifts in the education landscape.Microschools deserve a chance to thrive.
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