1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

I was deeply concerned by your support for dismantling the Department of Education, as it reflects a lack of understanding about its role in overseeing education federally. Utah receives minimal federal funding for schools, and as such, I do not believe we are in a position to make a definitive stance on this matter. While I'm not a teacher, I come from a family of educators who have always warned me that the state government doesn’t understand the needs of our schools. In your recent Op-Ed, you stated that federal paperwork burdens teachers, causing paraprofessionals to take on teaching roles. However, after speaking with several educators, including my mother, who works in the same district your children attended, this claim is inaccurate. Paraprofessionals work with small groups due to high student-teacher ratios, not because of excessive paperwork. I grew up in Utah and Missouri schools, and while Utah excels in K-12 education, Missouri relies heavily on federal funding to maintain its teachers and meet student needs. I have never observed teachers filling out federal paperwork during school hours; they mainly do so on unpaid time. Furthermore, Title I funding requires schools to prove poverty rates to ensure that funds are allocated to the right places. The federal Department of Education’s role is largely to enforce civil rights laws and ensure access to an equal education, not to burden schools with excessive paperwork. If we want to address government waste, perhaps we should first look at the Department of Defense. The core issue in Utah education is student-teacher ratios. My mother teaches in Sanpete County with a 25:1 ratio, making it impossible to meet the individual needs of each student. A better ratio would be 13:1 or at most 15:1. We have a teacher shortage, not a federal paperwork problem. Additionally, your support for legislation that prevents the Utah Educators Association from collective bargaining further burdens teachers, who now have to negotiate contracts individually. While Utah has programs to generate more teachers, the reality is that teachers are overworked, often verbally abused, and increasingly burned out. These issues stem from state policies, not the federal government. If Utah continues down this path, we will lose more teachers, worsening the shortage. Most of the solutions lie at the state level, and instead of supporting policies that harm our educators, you should fight for their well-being and the future of our children. Finally, as a constituent, I urge you to reconsider your support for dismantling the Department of Education. Talk to the teachers who work with these policies daily and understand that the real challenges in education are state issues. It’s up to you and our state legislators to make the changes necessary to improve education in Utah. I regret voting for you in the past, but I hope you will reconsider and fight for a better future for Utah's teachers and students.