Valley Visioning Phase One Report released!
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We recently finished up the first phase of our Valley Visioning effort. This phase focused on getting public input and learning about residents' priorities for the future of Utah Valley. You can view the report and presentation
here
.
Over the past several months, we've received over 2,700 responses to our online survey and more than 400 residents have attended our public input workshops—thanks to everyone who has shared their voice!
After analyzing public input, we found that Utah Valley residents' top priorities for the future are:
- Managing water
- Improving transportation
- Reducing air pollution
- Improving education
In addition, we found that residents highly value safe and neighborly communities; economic opportunity and low cost of living; and scenic beauty and recreation opportunities close to home.
Moving forward, our team will work closely with experts to create growth scenarios for Utah Valley, including a baseline scenario that explores current development and growth plans. Later, we'll gather your input on those scenarios to create a preferred vision for growth in Utah Valley. Learn more about the Valley Visioning project and process at
https://utahvalleyvisioning.org/.
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Taking a deep look at Utah teacher compensation
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We've recently pulled together a group of education, state, and business leaders to answer an important question: how should we be compensating our teachers to ensure we attract our best and brightest into the profession and keep great teachers in the classroom?
Utahns expect schools to give students the knowledge and skills they'll need to be successful in our fast-changing economy, to contribute to their communities, and lead fulfilling lives—and we know teachers are more important to those outcomes than any other factor in a school.
That's why we've spent over a year working with Utah's education leaders to understand and address the state's
teacher shortage
. While it’s clear that compensation is an important part of recruiting, retaining, and re-engaging great teachers—and could go a long way to elevate the profession—no one has a clear vision of what teacher compensation should look like to achieve those goals. We’re hoping to fill that gap.
In a series of meetings over the next several months, we will work with our committee to examine variables, run scenarios, model outcomes, and work towards a better understanding of what it takes to ensure we have the teachers we need to prepare students for the future. If you'd like to learn more about our education efforts or have ideas related to this compensation analysis, you can get in touch with
Jason Brown
, who manages our education efforts.
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Envision Utah + Help Me Grow: Early learning networking breakfast
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Last week we partnered with
Help Me Grow
to welcome over 30 organizations to a Vroom + Waffles networking breakfast. At the event, early learning providers had a chance to come together and learn about early learning science and best practices for helping parents become brain builders!
We heard from Dr. Neal Davis from Intermountain Healthcare, KSL, the Clark Planetarium, Granite School District, and Salt Lake County Library on their efforts to promote early childhood development and Vroom Brain Building tips.
Our Vroom + Waffles networking breakfast is a part of our larger effort to create a cultural shift around early learning in the community. Ninety-two percent of a child's brain growth happens before they begin kindergarten, so it's up to parents, caregivers, family, friends, neighbors, and others in the community to ensure that children build foundations for lifelong learning.
If you'd like to learn how you can be involved in this effort, please reach out to our Early Learning Project Manager,
Travis Allred
. And don't forget to check out early learning tips from
Vroom
!
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Envision Utah's Spring Breakfast: Don't forget to buy your tickets!
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Are you ready for a major disaster? If an earthquake shook your city or a wildfire struck your town, would you be able to whether the storm? What about your community? How long would it take for your business to be up and running again?
Those are the kinds of questions we'll focus on at this year's Spring Breakfast, including the steps we can all take to ensure we're ready for a major disaster.
Join us and disaster expert Lisa Grow Sun, J.D. as we take stock of the dangers we face, how prepared we are, and what it will take so that our cities, state, and our economy can continue to function after a major disaster. See you there!
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We greatly appreciate all of our contributors for enabling us to carry out these efforts. Please consider a donation to support Envision Utah today!
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The Davis Clipper
In my experience, the teacher shortage has as much to do with the lack of respect shown to the profession as does the salary. Winston Churchill notably said that the powers of teachers were more than those of the Prime Minister, but I don’t believe parents fully understand the long-term significance – both positive and negative – a teacher can make in a student’s life.
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The Daily Herald
Nearly 100 people attending the Valley Visioning Summit broke apart into six key groups representing each of the key topics identified by the summit and Utah County residents. They came up with 10 priorities for each aspect of development, then voted on two out of the 10 that they deemed the most important.
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The Salt Lake Tribune
In a first-of-its-kind study from Envision Utah, which typically focuses on neighborhood and transportation issues in the state, numbers reveal a deepening teacher deficit — something that’s been studied and talked about for years, including
an impassioned call by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert
last year to do something about it.
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