Repeal of compulsory education law debated

FILE PHOTO

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Utah education officials say a Republican state senator’s idea to scrap the state’s compulsory education law would put already-vulnerable students further at risk.

Utah school board member Tami Pyfer says children who come from low-income homes and whose parents put a low priority on education would suffer the most. Salt Lake City school board member Michael Clara says it would wreak havoc on minorities and create a subclass of people prone to a life of crime.

Republican state Sen. Aaron Osmond of South Jordan recently floated the idea in a blog. He says giving teachers the option to send children home would force parents to better prepare their children for school and ease the burden on teachers.

Utah’s state law requires parents to make sure children under 14 don’t miss more than five days of school a year.

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