This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
With respect to advocates of same-sex marriage (whose cause I support), former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was absolutely right when she said at the Republican National Convention that giving every child, especially poor kids, an education is "the civil rights struggle of our day."
Without a quality education a child's opportunities are severely diminished. Until we truly believe that every child has a right to a quality education, and we are willing to make that happen through taxes, America will be the less.
Investing in the American people is never a bad bet. Why doesn't Utah's Legislature get that? Why aren't we responding to the fact that two-thirds of our children don't read or do math at grade level?
We allow that situation to persist year after year. But if two-thirds of our children had a curable disease, you'd bet we would be addressing that issue pronto.
Education should be the No. 1 issue in this fall's local elections.
Nathan Johnson
Salt Lake City