|
|
Policy Reports
| Education |
THINKING "OUTSIDE THE BUILDING": ONLINE EDUCATION
Online learning is an innovative way to personalize education for children. There are a number of potential benefits for children, parents, and teachers alike.
Download
Fostering Innovation in Utah Schools: Common Elements of Educational Success
Building a civic structure for Utah’s education system will permit genuinely-innovative reform ideas to be considered, tested, and implemented in Utah schools.
Download
NCLB: SELLING UTAH’S SCHOOLS FOR A MESS OF POTTAGE
Utah has exchanged the freedom to run its schools for a meager sum of
Download
WHAT UTAH TEACHERS THINK ABOUT “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND”: AN INDEPENDENT SURVEY
A new survey shows that 81 percent of Utah teachers have an unfavorable
Download
PROMOTING EDUCATION INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN UTAH
Innovative entrepreneurs are catalysts of change that can bring meaningful reform to Utah's schools.
Download
Executive Summary: Federal Intervention in Public Education
Over the past decade, the federal government has extended its influence into Utah public education more than ever before.
Download
Federal Intervention in Public Education: Is it Good For Utah?
Will Utahns accept an ever-expanding federal presence in Utah public education or choose to become more self-reliant as a state?
Download
The Myth of the Silver Bullet: A Comprehensive Approach to Teacher Incentive Pay
As Utah lawmakers enact reforms to public education -- specifically, teacher compensation -- they should be wary of simple solutions. Sutherland recommends following this performance-based system.
Download
Paying Utah's Public School Teachers: A Companion to The Myth of the Silver Bullet
A snapshot comparing Sutherland's incentive-pay proposal and the current method of paying teachers.
Download
Policies in Conflict: Open Enrollment and Student Athletes
An analysis of the conflict that exists between Utah's "open enrollment" statute and UHSAA rules that govern the transfers and eligibility of student-athletes.
Download
Are Private Schools Accountable?
Fact: Private schools participating in the voucher program benefit from multiple layers of accountability.
Download
Are Private Schools Affordable?
Fact: Utah's school voucher program brings private schools into reach for low-income families.
Download
Are Public School Students Better Citizens?
Fact: Private schools have demonstrated a greater ability to build and graduate better citizens than their public school counterparts.
Download
Do Vouchers Promote Creaming?
Fact: Milwaukee students with the lowest standardized test scores in both reading and math were those who applied for vouchers.
Download
Do Vouchers Improve Performance?
Fact: Vouchers work everywhere they have been tried for those who have needed them the most.
Download
Are Public Schools More Parent-Friendly?
Fact: Parents who use a voucher are more satisfied with their private schools than parents who choose public schools.
Download
What is the Average Tuition Among Utah's Private Schools?
Fact: The average affordable tuition among Utah's private schools is $4,519.97.
Download
Do Vouchers Take Money Away from Public Schools?
Fact: Public school funding actually benefits from vouchers.
Download
Is There a Private School Near Me?
Fact: Private schools are available to serve 85% of Utah's school-aged students.
Download
Do Public Schools Need More Funding?
Fact: Public education spending has gone up 10.7%, and graduation rates have fallen 1.3%.
Download
Do Private Schools Promote Intolerance?
Fact: The long-term experiences of other states provide evidence that Utah's school voucher program will help its next generation become more tolerant, charitable, and educated voters.
Download
Do Private Schools Live Up To Higher Operating Standards?
Fact: 123 private schools in Utah are accredited by the Northwest Association of Independent Schools.
Download
Are "Certified" Teachers Really Better Teachers?
Fact: There is no substantial relationship between teacher "certification" and performance in the classroom.
Download
Can School Vouchers Help Stem the Tide of Remediation?
Fact: Remediation costs Utah taxpayers and businesses nearly $30 Million a Year.
Download
Do Public Schools have Choice?
Fact: Public school students who need it most do not have a choice.
Download
How do vouchers help special needs students?
Fact: Utah has a current voucher program for special needs students attending private schools.
Download
Are education subsidies, like vouchers, unusual?
Fact: The average voucher subsidy would be $1,926; the average public school subsidy is $2,157.
Download
Is the Voucher Program Too Expensive?
Fact: The Office of the State Legislative Fiscal Analyst found that the new school voucher program would be $1.073 billion less expensive than the public school system.
Download
Are Private Schools Diverse?
Fact: Utah's private schools are as broadly diverse as its public schools, and more diverse in many cases.
Download
Assessing Proposals for Preschool and Kindergarten
Last year, immediately after the Sutherland Institute released its policy recommendation that a $500 tax credit ought to be given to parents that would keep their kindergarten-age children home rather
Download
Home Head Start
Nearly 40 years ago, two little-known researchers from the High Scope Educational Research Foundation began a small longitudinal study of 123 African-American preschool children at Perry Preschool.
Download
The Universal Tuition Tax Credit
Parental choice in education—whereby parents have the freedom to choose the school their children attend—is seeing explosive growth in popularity and implementation around the United States.
Download
|
| Family |
WHAT IS A FAMILY-CENTERED ECONOMY?
Sound economic policy will fit the needs and requirements of Utah families, rather than seeking to make Utah families fit the needs of economic policy.
Download
Gambling Away Marriage in Utah: Why Utah Should Rethink No-fault Divorce
No-fault divorce in Utah has weakened the institution of marriage, perpetuated legal injustices, and exposed men, women, and children to a host of serious problems they may not have faced otherwise.
Download
RETHINKING CHILD SUPPORT
Utah’s counter-productive child-support system desperately needs an infusion of justice.
Download
THE FAILURE OF PHILANTHROPIC GREED AND THE CASE FOR INVESTING IN FAMILY POLICY
When decision makers, philanthropists, and conservative activists all focus on
Download
ACCOUNTABILITY IN CHILD SUPPORT
It is time to consider a meaningful reform advocated by non-custodial parents: requiring custodial parents receiving child support to account for how they spend that money.
Download
COMBATING THE ABUSE OF TRUTH
False allegations of child abuse divert officials’ time and energy away from real victims and real perpetrators, while entangling unharmed children and innocent parents in a process that can itself pr
Download
Understanding the Natural Family Resolution
During the last week of October 2005, the Sutherland Institute mailed a draft resolution on the natural family to 265 city and county councils throughout Utah.
Download
Draft Resolution on The Natural Family
Whereas, the natural family is the fundamental unit of society and is entitled to protection in Utah by local and state governments;
Download
How Family Religious Involvement Benefits Adults, Youth, and Children and Strengthens Families
In this study, Dr. David Dollahite and Jennifer Thatcher of BYU survey te growing body of social science research that indicates that a family's religious involvement benefits children.
Download
No-fault Divorce
The "no-fault revolution" occurred for some very good personal reasons. But public policy is not about what is personal, it is about what is best for the common good.
Download
|
| Immigration |
Just the Facts
County data confirms what state information suggests: undocumented immigrants are not major sources of crime.
Download
Reading the Tea Leaves
Utah should be wary of the problems that SB 81 may cause and should change the law once the problems appear.
Download
Utah's Citizens and Illegal Immigrants: Side-by-Side
This report publishes the findings of a demographic study by Sutherland that shows illegal immigrants are not much different from Utah's citizens.
Download
Sutherland Institute Position Statement: Illegal Immigration
The Sutherland Institute offers a general policy statement and approach in dealing with our current neighbors who came to Utah in violation of federal immigration laws.
Download
Onus or Opportunity? Conservatism and Illegal Immigration in Utah
Sutherland concludes there is nothing extraordinary about illegal immigrants, who are otherwise law-abiding members of our community.
Download
Executive Summary: Onus or Opportunity?
Of the many issues that the Sutherland Institute has considered in its thirteen years of operations, few have compared with illegal immigration in complexity and intensity.
Download
|
| Limited Government |
Conduct Unbecoming: A Critical View of the “Government Ethics Reform” Initiative
Download
Innovating Transparency
SB 18 will create tools to improve governance of school districts, cities and counties, and special districts.
Download
Clearly Saving Utahns Money
Utah’s difficult fiscal situation calls for prudent policies that maximize the efficiency of scarce resources. One bill that will do exactly that is SB 18 – UT Transparency Advisory Board Amendments.
Download
Transperancy: It's About Trust
SB 18 will help solidify public confidence in government.
Download
Politics or Polity? Ethics Reform for Utah
The Sutherland Institute’s recommendations for ethics reform rest on two pillars of polity: first, preserve personal accountability for every state legislator; and second, establish a clear basis for
Download
Transparency, Too
A clear case for including local governments and school districts, too!
Download
Transparency in Government
The Utah Legislature passed SB 38 in 2008, a bill that makes government finances more transparent than ever before through the creation of a state-run, government finance website.
Download
Why Transparency?
In order for representative government to exist, citizens need information and the means of acquiring that information. An essential part of that information is how the government spends tax dollars.
Download
How Much Will Transparency Cost?
Increased transparency will generate significant savings that will decrease the actual cost to taxpayers of SB 38: Transparency in Government Finance.
Download
The Planning Penalty
Smart growth and other forms of growth-management planning create artificial housing shortages that impose significant burdens on low-income families and first time homebuyers.
Download
Rethinking Tax Reform
The work of the Tax Reform Task Force has taken a turn for the worse. After ten months of deliberation its official recommendations lack consensus.
Download
Private Property and Public Policy
Adjunct fellow William Duncan describes recent challenges to property rights of individuals and institutions. He suggests that a renewed respect for property rights would be good policy.
Download
|
| Environment |
Getting the Environment Right: Conservative Environmentalism
Conservative principles, unlike modern environmental thought, offer an approach to the natural world that can both preserve Utahns’ freedom and improve environmental quality.
Download
Green Curriculum: What Is Being Taught in Utah’s Schools
“Green” activists are advancing their agenda in public schools – even in Utah.
Download
.jpg)
Utah's Rural Communities Have the Most to Lose in Climate Debate (an Earth Week 2009 fact sheet)
Fact: Government regulations would impose a disproportionate burden on rural Utahns.
Download
Economic Pain Little Gain (an Earth Week 2009 fact sheet)
Fact: The Western Climate Iniative cap-and-trade proposal could harm Utah families and businesses.
Download
Flunking the Fact-Check Test (an Earth Week 2009 fact sheet)
Fact: Expected temperature increases from “man-made global warming” are not materializing in fact.
Download
Climate Change: A Natural Reaction (an Earth Week 2009 Fact Sheet)
Fact: Peer-reviewed climate research shows that nature explains ongoing changes in climate.
Download
Climate Forecasts Deserve Skepticism
Fact: Recent research suggests that climate model predictions are incorrect.
Download
Global Warming "Facts" Just Don't Add Up
Fact: Glaciers in Greenland are getting 5.4 centimeteers thicker every year.
Download
Saving the Planet, but Condemning the Poor
Fact: A family making $25,000 in 2006 spent twice as much of their income on power bills as the average Utah family.
Download
Economic Casualties in the Fight Against Global Warming
Fact: The cost to Utah of fighting global warming could be as high as $2.3 billion
Download
Myth of Unsafe Nuclear Power
Fact: Accidents from transporting radioactive materials have not exposed the public to hazardous radiation levels in over 35 years
Download
Nuclear Power: "The Other Green Energy"
Fact: Nearly 97 percent of nuclear waste can be recycled to produce more nuclear fuel.
Download
Nuclear Power: Radiating Economic Benefits for Utah
Fact: The average nuclear power plant employee makes 79 percent more than Utah's average annual income
Download
The Core of Nuclear Power: Affordability
Fact: Electricity from nuclear power is between 31 and 229 percent cheaper than electricity from other power sources.
Download
Natural Resources Keep Utah Open for Business
Fact: 1,480 Utah businesses, employing over 35,000 Utahns, depend on natural resources for their living.
Download
Abundance vs. Scarcity: Enough is Enough!
Fact: The world's current estimated supply of oil is over 500 times what it was thought to be in 1948.
Download
Natural Resources: Lighting our Future
Fact: About 98 percent of the electricity that powers Utah homes and businesses currently comes from fossil fuels.
Download
Natural Resources are a Boon to Rural Utah
Fact: Income of mining employees in a rural Utah County was more than double the countywide average income.
Download
Scientific Consensus on Global Warming
Authors Joseph L. Bast and James M. Taylor have compiled the work of two scientists who conducted a survey among more than 530 climate scientists concerning global warming.
Download
The Perspectives of Climate Scientists on Global Climate Change
This report presents the findings of two surveys of climate scientists' perceptions of the global warming issue. The first survey was conducted in 1996 and the second survey in 2003.
Download
|
| Health |
Caring for Our Neighbors in Need and Strengthening Community in Utah
Sutherland's goal is to create a coordinated private-sector approach to universal, basic, health care for Utah's neighbors in need.
Download
Health Care Costs Survey
The Sutherland Institute and the Utah Society for Human Resource Management conducted a survey on health insurance in Utah during the last quarter of 2004.
Download
Authentic Charity Care
The Sutherland Institute believes that Utah’s indigent and needy uninsured residents should receive health care even if they cannot afford it.
Download
Prescription Pricing in Utah
As part of its ongoing research on poverty and health care, the Sutherland Institute conducted a study to determine whether an individual, without prescription drug insurance, could save a significant
Download
|
| Religion |
The "Wall of Separation Between Church and State": Constitutional Fact or Fiction?
Lorianne Updike, a law student at the J. Reuben Clark Law School re-examines the historical record regarding the meaning of the concept of a separation of church and state.
Download
|
| Community |
Continuing Education from Cedar Hills
In this brief update, Paul T. Mero reflects on the feedback received from his essay titled, "Community Identity and Its Critics: Lessons from Cedar Hills for the Rest of Us."
Download
Community Identity and Its Critics: Lessons from Cedar Hills for the Rest of Us
Cedar Hills, Utah, from its inception, and just as its neighboring cities of Alpine and Highland, prohibits the sale of alcohol and Sunday commercialism.
Download
|
|
