Utahns consider track system

• Just the Facts
• posted: 20 Feb 2007
• scrollnews@byui.edu

Brigham Young University-Idaho is having an effect outside of the university as well as inside.

A task force for the Utah State Board of Regents is currently considering the BYU‑I track system as a way to alleviate problems in the Utah K-12 educational system.

Utah is facing a shortage of teachers, while the number of students continues to increase.

David Sperry, a scholar in residence at the Utah State Board of Regents, said that a new education system is needed to help the problem.

We have a growing gap between the number of teachers graduating from universities and the number of teachers we need in schools, Sperry said.

Several other factors increase the need for a new education system. Optimizing resources in education is going to become more critical as K-12 education becomes a shrinking part of the state budgets. That’s due to many things like transportation, facilities, health costs and so forth, Sperry said.

We will have to optimize existing facilities and human and capital resources, Sperry said. The thing I find most interesting about the BYU‑Idaho track system is the efficient use of human and capital resources while maximizing the use of buildings and existing facilities.