An Open Letter in Support of the Utah Education Fits All Scholarship

I began writing this letter to my state legislators but felt that it should be shared more widely as well. I hope this gives more citizens of Utah a better understanding of how beneficial this program is to many Utah families. If you haven’t heard of this program before it is a new program this year that allows families that feel their children would be better served outside of the public education system to access up to $8,000 to go towards their education. You can read more about the program here, or a comparison to public school funding here.

Dear Utah State Legislators,

As a mother of five children with widely varying educational needs, I have witnessed firsthand how individualized education helps children thrive.  I am writing to urge you to support expanding the Utah Fits All Scholarship program. This past year over 17,000 Utah families, including mine, were denied the funds to help us strive for greater educational excellence for our kids. This program could be extremely impactful for us and countless other families across the state. I hope that sharing our story helps to demonstrate how expanding this program would improve the educational opportunities for Utah’s kids.

My oldest two children (15 & 13) are currently homeschooling through OpenEd (formerly My Tech High). Their curriculum includes resources from BYU, American Heritage, Independent Education Program, the Utah Military Academy, Khan Academy, and more. It has been a huge benefit for them to find the exact right fits for them in each of their subjects. It has given them a love of learning and allowed them to really excel in their individual areas of talent, and get help in the places that they struggle most.

Their younger sister (11) has found that she is happiest at our local public school where she has been greatly blessed by the resource teachers who have helped her overcome her dyslexia. She loves learning with her friends and has enjoyed participating in the school play, Battle of the Books, Knowledge Bowl and any other extracurricular activity that the school has put on.

Our next youngest (7) is thriving at Renaissance Academy in their dual language immersion program learning Mandarin Chinese. He needs LOTS of stimulation to keep his very active mind busy, and finding a program where he can be challenged each day has been amazing for him.

Our experience has shown us firsthand how crucial it is to have access to diverse educational options that cater to each child’s strengths and challenges. If I were to try and shoehorn any of our children into the other one’s learning path, they would feel stifled and frustrated. Our public schooler bristles at the idea of having to wear a uniform at a charter school. Our charter school student would go crazy to have to keep himself occupied at home all day. My homeschoolers have taken public school classes and loathed the bureaucracy. Tailoring their educations to their unique needs has helped our children thrive and prepare to be productive adults.

A one-size-fits-all approach to education does not work. Each child is unique and deserves to learn in ways that work with their strengths, challenges, and interests to nurture their potential. Public schools can serve many students well but they aren’t the right fit for every child. Expecting all students to thrive in the same setting is like serving bread to someone with Celiac disease and insisting it should be enough just because it works for most people. The goal of education funding should be to ensure every child has access to the resources they need to succeed, rather than limiting families to a single option. Programs like Utah Fits All provide the flexibility to ensure each child receives the support they need without financial barriers.

The flexibility of the Utah Fits All Scholarship program is essential in allowing families like mine to allocate resources where they are most needed.  We have made financial sacrifices as a family to provide their education so far, and OpenEd has been an incredible blessing in expanding those resources to a degree.  For our family, these scholarships would open many doors, including allowing our oldest sons access to BYU Online High School diplomas, advanced engineering instruction, and college-level classes. We believe that our children are every bit as deserving of state funding for their learning as any child in a public school classroom.

We don’t want to take away from the public schools – we have children there too, and they provide a great service to our communities – but we believe that the wisest stewardship of state funds includes allowing students to use those funds to maximize their personal potential. Encouraging excellence in all of the students in Utah will help grow our state better than giving only standardized solutions.

Our youngest child hasn’t been mentioned yet as he is only 21 months old and hasn’t yet started any formal education. I hope that by the time he begins his educational journey that Utah Education will fit him as well.

With your support, all Utah children will have access to the opportunities to reach their full potential.  By expanding the Utah Fits All Scholarship program, you empower Utah families, including mine, to provide the best possible education for their children.

Thank you for your dedication to improving education in Utah and helping our children to succeed.

Sincerely,
Brittny Hansen