SALT LAKE CITY — "If you want a good job, get a good education."
Those words echoed through the Capitol rotunda on Friday as more than 400 charter school students shouted along with Gov. Gary Herbert. The crowd was gathered for Charter Day at the Capitol, in concert with National School Choice Week, to celebrate the choice that students and parents have to find a school that best meets their education needs.
Herbert recently declared this week as School Choice Week in Utah to coincide with the national commemoration.
"We have a great education system in Utah. Part of that education system is our charter school movement," Herbert said to the crowd of students gathered on the steps in front of the House chamber. "You fill a very significant niche in the opportunity of choice in education and opportunities, because everybody learns a little bit differently."
The governor also emphasized local control of education methods and funding on Wednesday during his State of the State address, where he called today's youths the "greatest generation yet to come."
Charter schools are public schools that aren't part of Utah's 41 school districts, but that base their curriculum and teaching on a specialized focus, such as language, Science, technology, engineering and math; leadership; or special education. The state currently boasts nearly 100 charter schools, where enrollment increased by 11 percent last year to 61,435 students.
For Brigette Comish, a mother with two children attending North Star Academy in Riverton, being able to send her kids to a school that tailors to their unique talents is a top priority. Her third-grade son excels at math, and instead of doing third-grade math with everyone else in his grade, the school allows him to participate in fifth-grade math.
"What I love is that my kids can work at their own pace," Comish said. "They can be challenged at whatever level they're at, and the small class size allows for that. If they're ready to move on, they can move on and they don't have to stay with the rest of the class."
Tacy Hardy, 17, is a senior at Venture Academy in Slaterville. One of her favorite subjects is history, and being able to study the Civil War in Washington, D.C., among other out-of-class excursions, brings new experiences to learning, she said.
"To be able to feel and see that it's a real thing and not just something that are words on paper in a classroom, I really love the experience we get," Hardy said.
More than 40 schools were represented at the Capitol, with students and teachers meeting their legislative representative to talk about their hopes for education in the state.
Nathan Justis, chief academic officer at the American International School of Utah in Murray, said he hopes the event will illustrate the importance of individualized instruction.
"I hope legislators get the message that there is a lot of great innovation going on in Utah because of our charter capacity," Justis said. "I hope they will continue to support less traditional approaches to education that are more personalized for our students."
Charter education in the state is sometimes seen as having an added academic advantage over district schools because of their limited enrollment, according to Royce Van Tassell, executive director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools.
But Van Tassell said charter schools don't just take "the cream of the crop." In a recent report by the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Utah charters were listed as having more special education students than any one school district.
"Charter schools are public schools," Van Tassell said. "They educate the students that come to them. They may be coming because they have special needs, and charter schools are an option for any family to find what's best for their kid."
Comish encouraged other families to seek out the best education opportunities for their children and to take advantage of them.
"I think you have to find that fit for your child and your family," she said.
Email: mjacobsen@deseretnews.com, Twitter: MorganEJacobsen