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Leavitt’s 2003 State of the State pushes competency-based education, new funding priorities and praises Guard
Summary
Governor Michael O. Leavitt told a joint convention the state's priority must be education—backing competency-based graduation standards, a new weighted funding unit and interim targets to close funding gaps—while proposing five fiscal and policy steps, announcing new tech jobs and honoring returning Utah National Guard soldiers.
Governor Michael O. Leavitt delivered the 2003 State of the State to a joint convention of the Utah Legislature, calling education the state’s top long-term economic priority and laying out five proposals to protect school funding, reform financing for roads and water, collect unpaid remote sales taxes, and expand online government services.
Leavitt framed the address around the legacy of the 2002 Winter Olympics and a broader economic plan he called the "thousand day plan," saying the state’s competitiveness depends on education. "In the economic race of this century, the society with the best educated people win. Period," Leavitt said.
The governor voiced support for the state school board’s recent move toward competency-based high school graduation standards and proposed giving the board authority to test a new financing mechanism he called a "weighted competency unit." He urged a summer summit of district leaders, legislators,…
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