Letter: Helping West-Side Schools (Tribune)

First Published Sep 01 2013 10:54 pm • Last Updated Sep 01 2013 10:54 pm Salt Lake City’s west-side schools need help. As a former Salt Lake School Board member representing the west side, I admire board member Michael Clara’s persistent efforts to gain attention for west-side schools at the Legislature. In your scathing Aug. 28 article “School board maverick stirs teacher debate at Legislature,” Clara takes on the Salt Lake School Board and superintendent … Continue reading

Utah Dems Fire at GOP Lawmakers in Defense of Teachers, SLC School District (Deseret News)

By Benjamin Wood, Deseret News Published: Friday, Aug. 30 2013 4:17 p.m. MDT SALT LAKE CITY — A significant portion of the agenda at last week’s meeting of the Education Task Force was given to Salt Lake City School Board member Michael Clara and his oft-repeated criticisms of his school board colleagues. Clara accused the Salt Lake City School District of neglecting the needs of west-side schools and failing to address the graduation rate of at-risk and minority students. … Continue reading

Article Follow Up: School Board Maverick Stirs Teacher Debate at Legislature (Tribune)

  The above picture is the article that ran in today’s  front page of the Tribune. This same article is in electronic version with a different title: Lawmakers: Is Salt Lake City School District Serving West Side Students This blog entry is more of a follow up to the article in order to address the multiple emails and phone calls I am receiving from those that want clarification on several issues reported in the Tribune. … Continue reading

Education Task Force: School Governance Testimony (Audio)

  Audio of Michael Clara Testimony – BROKEN AUDIO LINK REPAIRS IN PROGRESS see below for other option  “Board members have historically been criticized for not getting involved in diagnosing problems or developing constructive solutions, as well as evading opportunities to become creatively proactive. Consequently, some scholars suggest that this is has resulted in a shift in local control to the state level.” Local District Responsiveness: Who Governs, Who Participates, And Who Gets Represented? University … Continue reading

Lawmakers: Is Salt Lake City School District Serving West Side Students? (Tribune)

Lawmakers: Is Salt Lake City School District serving west side students? BY RAY PARKER THESALT LAKETRIBUNE PUBLISHED: AUGUST 27, 2013 09:32PM UPDATED: AUGUST 27, 2013 10:18PM Utah lawmakers on an Education Task Force questioned Tuesday how well the Salt Lake City School District is serving children in west-side schools, encouraging school board member Michael Clara to continue investigating. Clara filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights in February, asserting there are too many inexperienced … Continue reading