The following was written by Christine Cooke, director of education policy at Sutherland Institute in support of SB 236 – State Board of Education Candidacy Amendments. It was sent prior to the final floor vote and the bill’s passage.

Members of the Utah House of Representatives,

Sutherland Institute supports SB 236 – State Board of Education Candidacy Amendments, which would clarify that candidates who run for the Utah State Board of Education can run as party affiliated, unaffiliated, or write-in candidates. This is good policy because voters deserve to choose what kind of candidates (partisan or nonpartisan) they want representing them on the state school board, and candidates deserve to choose how they want to be selected to represent voters on the state school board. 

 We encourage you to vote for SB 236.