By what journalistic principles does the Deseret Morning News print the school rankings of the Sutherland Institute, an openly anti-public education lobbying organization, without any balancing editorial comment or independent analysis of their own?
A quick look at the data profiles of the schools listed in the conservative think-tank's rankings reveals incomplete and inaccurate information as well as statistically questionable conclusions about diverse schools.
And what is the Sutherland Institute anyway? While integrity of their data is questionable, their agenda is quite clear. Their leader, Paul Mero, publicly proclaims his intention to eventually abolish public schools, so how does the institute suddenly become the judge of all that is education for our local newspaper?
Policymakers with the desire to truly improve and strengthen our public schools ought to enter the classrooms to see what is going on individually instead of relying on dubious BCS-like ranking systems.
Keith Homer
Midvale