Martha Harris
KUER 90.1
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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Past articles by Martha:
Coordination is at the core of Utah’s new homelessness plan
According to the Utah Office of Homeless Services’ 2022 annual report, the number of Utahns experiencing homelessness for the first time jumped 14% between 2020 and 2021. → Read More
What does Utah mean when it says it wants ‘individual freedom’ in education?
Lawmakers passed a bill this year that requires that classroom materials and lessons be “consistent with the principles of inalienable rights, equal opportunity and individual merit.” → Read More
Alpine School District moves toward closing 5 elementary schools
Lehi, Valley View, Lindon, Windsor and Sharon elementaries could all be closed as soon as this year. → Read More
Passes & fails: Here’s what happened during Utah’s 2023 legislative session
Lawmakers have only 45 days to write, debate and pass laws each year in Utah. The last couple of days of the session are always a mad rush of legislation. → Read More
Utah lawmakers are revisiting the ‘sensitive materials’ in schools debate
The Utah State Board of Education asked lawmakers to put a pause on new “sensitive materials” legislation since last year’s law is still so fresh. → Read More
Utah is (again) taking a crack at funding full-day kindergarten
Republican Rep. Robert Spendlove said the goal is to offer full-day kindergarten to all students statewide. → Read More
Texas Instruments will invest $11B in Utah expansion
The announcement comes on the heels of the CHIPS and Science Act that Democratic President Joe Biden signed last summer. → Read More
CDC data shows why lawmakers are worried about the mental health of Utah’s youth
The experience of Utah teenagers is in line with new national data from the CDC, though Utah’s lawmakers are focusing on social media as a root cause. → Read More
Utah lawmakers already gave teachers a raise. Now there’s a push to tie it to inflation
A new bill would require the teacher raise to go up each year by the same percentage that the state increases per-pupil funding. → Read More
Utah isn’t alone in embracing school vouchers. Has it worked out in other states?
While data is murky, researchers say students using vouchers nationwide are not doing better academically than their peers in public school. → Read More
With vouchers and pay out of the way, Utah lawmakers turn to school safety
Members of Utah’s House say school safety is a priority this year, in light of the rise in mass shootings nationwide. → Read More
Utah lawmakers send a teacher pay bump and school vouchers to the governor
It took less than two weeks for the hotly-debated bill to pass, all without the support of Democrats. → Read More
Utah lawmakers are working with startling speed on the teacher pay/school choice bill
The bill that includes a pay raise for teachers and also creates a school voucher program is moving to the full Senate, its last hurdle before going to the governor. → Read More
School vouchers and teacher pay raises are on Utah lawmakers’ minds this session
Lawmakers will also discuss school safety, teen centers and transgender students. → Read More
Utahns are feeling high egg prices. It’s not just inflation, you can blame avian flu too
Over 43 million egg-laying hens died nationwide last year because of the avian flu outbreak. → Read More
The BYU Slavery Project is putting a historian’s eye on a darker past
Looking at how the history of slavery has intersected with Brigham Young University also means taking a look at how slavery has intersected with Utah County and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. → Read More
After a deadly year for pedestrians, UDOT wants drivers to ‘lay off the aggression’
UDOT is urging Utahns to drive safer. Advocates want the state to take more responsibility for the high number of traffic fatalities. → Read More
Utah’s population is shifting away from kids and schools will need to adjust
The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute projects that by 2060, 5-to-17-year-olds will make up a smaller percentage of the population than they do now. → Read More
The Natural History Museum of Utah is seeking out the stories behind its collection
“Regardless of how these things were collected, oftentimes they were collected without the deep cultural knowledge that comes with an object,” said the museum’s curator of ethnography, Alexandra Greenwald. → Read More
Why Utah ‘bird nerds’ count birds through the holidays
Data collected during the annual Christmas Bird Count helps scientists identify long-term trends about different species. → Read More