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Show SssEiSmcj rwlore input For . ScGiooS Decision MaEiin Preliminary planning towards reaching Utah's number one priority for public educationinvolving the public in education decision making-has been initiated by the Office of the Utah State Board of Education. Educa-tion. THE UTAH State Board of Education which consists of 11 elected members emphasized the need for increased public involvement in the decision making process by making it the top educational priority for 1976. The matter was turned over to the Board's staff to design procedures to help apply the priority in Utah's 4u school districts. "Our first objective." said Craig J. Hung, Staff Community Com-munity Education Specialist, "is to outline basic steps which will assist school districts dis-tricts and other educational organizations to increase meaningful public involvement in-volvement in education." 'FOR INSTANCE, we are working with local districts and schools to help them establish es-tablish methods to get public input to help with decisions regarding education. These could take the form of community com-munity speak-ups where educators gather public concerns con-cerns and suggestions, assessment as-sessment of local education needs, and strengthening ties with groups such as the PTA," added Hunt. "In addition," concluded the specialist, "we are working on ways to build awareness of the public's responsibility to become involved in-volved with the management and operation of Utah's public school system." A TWO day training session for all professional staff members of the Office of the State Board of Education will also be held in the near future as part of the new emphasis on public involvement in education decision making. |