Kerry Bringhurst: Joining me is Holly Richardson, editor of Utah Policy, a columnist for the Deseret News and former Utah lawmaker joining us this morning to discuss some issues that are affecting families and children here in the state of Utah being discussed at the State Capitol during this legislative session. Hello, Holly.
Holly Richardson: Hi, I'm so glad to be here.
Kerry Bringhurst: We have a full list of issues that could impact families, including one that would encourage teachers to get their degrees their teaching without their degrees, one that would require potty training at the age of four, before entering kindergarten, and a change or look at the child tax credits. Where would you like to begin?
Holly Richardson: Let's talk about potty training. So this bill is actually a serious bill is being run by Rep. Doug Welton, who himself is an educator. And all it would say is that part of kindergarten readiness is that the child would be potty trained, unless they have an IEP, which is an individualized education plan for kids who maybe are on the autism spectrum or have some other sort of disability that would prevent them from being potty trained.
But what has happened, especially as the state has gone to all day kindergarten in more areas, now, teachers are having kids come to school in diapers and parents are saying, ‘Well, we just thought that the teachers would potty train them.’
It seems like age for the you know, later four or age five, which is the age kids usually start kindergarten in the state of Utah. That seems a little bit late for potty training, but they're finding more and more kids coming to school without being potty trained. So this bill would say this is part of kindergarten readiness, you gotta be potty trained.
Kerry Bringhurst: And then if they need to, again, they do the IEP to see if there's maybe some additional services that need to happen.
Holly Richardson: That's right. That's right. Yeah, there are additional needs. And then there's certainly a way to make sure that that's handled. But for parents who may be thinking, ‘Hey, the teacher can just go ahead and potty train them while they're teaching them their numbers.’ That's not really what's going to be happening.
Kerry Bringhurst: And also, let's stay with the topic of education. We have many teachers that do not have their degrees teaching here in Utah.
Holly Richardson: Well, what what we're seeing, or at least what Rep. Karen Peterson is seeing, who's been working with education for years, is that student teachers or potentially new teachers will go to school, they'll finish the classwork portion. But then they'll take a break between finishing their coursework and doing their student teaching. And sometimes that break is because they need to go earn money to pay tuition.
So she's actually running a bill with HB 221 that would allow for a $6,000 stipend for student teachers to be able to do that student teaching.
Kerry Bringhurst: And I know we also mentioned that there are some changes or discussions regarding child tax credits happening at the State Capitol.
Holly Richardson: So last year, when the Utah Legislature decided that they really wanted to focus on helping families and this is income based, they allowed for a tax credit for children up to age four. So this the idea is if you're staying home and you're taking care of a young child, this is going to help you and what this bill would do is up that age to six. So basically up until a child is ready for first grade.
Kerry Bringhurst: Well, that's good news.
I want to mention quickly an event that is happening statewide, but will be taking place in cash County on Tuesday, Feb. 6. This an effort by several Utah nonprofits, including the Policy Project and Prevent Child Abuse Utah. They're holding a parent and community education night to write letters to lawmakers, and they're trying to strengthen Utah code and secure funding through a public private partnership with Utah lawmakers. Their hope is to ensure that all K-6 students have the opportunity to have some sexual abuse prevention, education and training.
So again, that is something that's happening not being discussed right now at the State Capitol, but in your communities in preparation for conversations at the State Capitol, maybe not this legislative session, but something that will lead into upcoming legislative sessions.
