Educators/lawmakers: Schoolteachers legislating on Utah’s Capitol Hill

Counted among the lawyers, business owners, ranchers, physicians, retirees and builders serving in the ongoing 2026 Utah Legislature is a trio of active K-12 public educators.

And while they may belong to the same small cadre of lawmakers/teachers, the three are distinctly different.

Two are men — Reps. Doug Welton and John Arthur. The other — Sen. Kathleen Riebe — is a woman. Both Riebe and Arthur are Democrats. Welton is a Republican.

And while Welton and Riebe have spent the past several years moonlighting as lawmakers, Arthur is now just weeks into his inaugural legislative session.

But differences aside, all say their respective teaching careers offer them classroom insights that are needed in the rapid-fire world of crafting and enacting Utah’s education-related laws.

And, yes, each of the three — Arthur, Welton and Riebe — are quick to answer “Yea” when asked if they sometimes wish they were back in the classrooms during the long days and weeks of the legislative session.

“I miss it,” said Riebe, “every day.”

The new guy on Capitol Hill: Rep. John Arthur

A sixth grade teacher at Meadowlark Elementary in the Salt Lake City School District, Arthur recently began his 13th year at the Rose Park-area school.

“I always knew when I became a teacher that I wanted to stay in one school for my entire career; I plant deep roots,” he said, laughing. “I’ve already had everybody’s big brother, big sister, auntie, and uncle.

“So now I’m 13 years down, and probably 22 years to go.”

Meadowlark Elementary is a Title I school, “and 100% of our kids qualify for free breakfast and lunch,” he said. “It’s beautifully diverse and culturally rich.”

Additionally, the school provides a learning place for children with severe special education needs, alongside traditional elementary school students. “So we get a lot of opportunities to have kids interacting with each other in beautiful ways.”

The 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, Arthur was selected by Democratic delegates last year to fill the seat of former Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, who was elected as mayor of Cottonwood Heights last November.

And while Arthur is a new addition to the Legislature, he’s no stranger to civic engagement.

Prior to becoming a lawmaker, Arthur was a vocal supporter of a successful effort to repeal House Bill 267 — the 2025 law banning public unions from collective bargaining.

Arthur’s now on an unpaid leave of absence from the school district during the ongoing legislative session — but adds he found “a rock star substitute” to cover his class of sixth graders. “Plus, he added, “I’m blessed because my school is just 12 minutes away from the Capitol.”

That fortuitous proximity allows him to make frequent visits to his class and stay connected with his students throughout the legislative session. “I’m just trying to keep some sort of normalcy for the kids.”

Utah’s annual legislative session, he noted, can be “a very stressful time” for public school teachers.

“We watch (education) bills put forward … and go in all kinds of directions not informed by expertise in education,” said Arthur. “And we watch a lot of people who have no idea what it is to be a teacher tell us what teachers need.

“And we have people passing policies that they think are good for the classroom but, in fact, lack insights from the classroom.”

So when the opportunity arose to fill Bennion’s legislative seat, Arthur jumped. “I felt like I had to take advantage of that opportunity.”

The self-described “new kid in the minority caucus,” Arthur recognizes the lawmaking challenges of serving across the aisle from Utah’s majority party. But he adds he draws upon “a ton of respect” that he has for fellow Democratic educators Riebe and retired high school teacher Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay — along with Republican Welton.

Arthur said he’s determined to pass legislation — while also acknowledging “political realities.”

“My goal is to work with the supermajority to pass bills that I know will benefit all Utahns, as well as my community,” he said. “But I also want to be a useful source of expertise and feedback. As folks are trying to run their bills, I want them to be better.

“I want all of us to succeed in our shared goal of improving the lives and outcomes for our kids and our families and parents here in the state of Utah.”

The new lawmaker is no fan of partisanship. “I think that polarization is one of the worst things that ever happened to American politics, as well as public education.”

Arthur, in fact, is running a bill that would make state school board races nonpartisan.

As a public school teacher, Arthur said he doesn’t get to pick the kids who enter his classroom each year. But he welcomes each one — and then does his best to do right by each student.

“And now I’m trying to look at the folks I’m working with in the same way up here in the Legislature.”

He’s already discovered that some assumptions he once held about some of the men and women who are now his lawmaking colleagues may not have been reliable. “I have learned that I created caricatures in my brain of people that were not true.”

Now he hopes to take that same open-mindedness back with him to the classroom when the legislative session concludes.

When asked about the biggest education challenges facing Utah kids, Arthur points to adults who “think they understand what the kids are going through.”

Today’s lawmakers, teachers and parents are working to educate today’s so-called “anxious generation” who have grown up with cellphones and internet access. “We are adults from a bygone era, in a lot of ways, trying to come up with modern, innovative solutions — and we don’t leverage our kids’ voices enough in that process,” he said.

He’s eager to be back in a few weeks with his Meadowlark students.

“I miss the classroom too much,” he said. “That’s why I can’t stay away.”

Rep. Welton: Meeting classroom challenges of AI, absenteeism

Welton recently introduced his debate and “current issues” students from Salem Hills High School to Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, during a busy afternoon at the state Capitol.

Schultz spent a few minutes talking about his duties and the often divisive yet noble work of legislating. Then he answered several questions from the Salem Hills teens before hustling off to a committee meeting.

For the Salem Hills High students, enjoying in-session access to one of Utah’s key political leaders is one of the benefits of having a teacher such as “Mr./Rep. Welton.”

A 20-year veteran in K-12 education, Welton teaches a variety of courses — including Japanese, philosophy and current issues. He also coaches the Skyhawk debate team.

And like Arthur, he’s on an unpaid leave of absence during the legislative session. But he makes time to record videos and messages for his classes — “And I’m still expected to grade papers and communicate with parents and things like that.”

The lawmaker admits finding full-time substitutes for such a variety of classes can be challenging.

Welton did not intend to become a legislator when he decided to leave the more profitable private sector and become a public school teacher. “But I wanted to do something that made more of a positive impact,” he told the Deseret News.

Those same public service impulses would later prompt a run for public office. He had often encouraged his students to put their civic skills to good use — so he decided to take his own advice about 10 years ago.

He successfully landed a seat on the Payson City Council before becoming a state representative in 2020.

Welton’s experiences as a teacher was one of the main reasons he pursued a spot in the Utah Legislature.

“There’s a tremendous amount of influence that happens up here,” he said. “There’s a lot of education bills happening, and I just thought it was important that there was an educator perspective up here — someone who’s actually in the classroom and understands, more intimately and not theoretically, what the impact of legislation is.”

Many of the things Welton has experienced on Capitol Hill have later become fodder for classroom lessons and discussions.

People often hold to aspersions and generalizations about lawmakers — particularly when they don’t know them, added Welton. But his tenure at the Capitol has helped him realize that his colleagues may hold different opinions on issues, but their intentions are generally the same: making Utah the best it can be.

“That’s something that I share with my educator friends who get a little frustrated with some of the legislation,” he said.

And Welton agrees with Arthur’s contention that today’s classrooms are far different than the K-12 classrooms once experienced by, say, Gen Xers. Being in today’s classrooms “gives me a different perspective on the policy and policy suggestions — and how they should be implemented.”

Welton doesn’t pause when asked about the greatest education challenge facing Utah kids. “AI is going to be a challenge — and an opportunity,” he said.

“One of the difficulties is that AI is so new, but it’s also not going away. And so how do you retrain educators to be able to use AI productively — so we’re not regurgitating what somebody’s already done, but using it as a tool to increase learning and ability?”

Absenteeism, added Welton, “is probably the biggest challenge that we’re facing now.” He’s involved in ongoing legislation to address chronic absenteeism in Utah’s classrooms.

And, yes, Welton has missed his daily interactions with his students since the Legislature’s opening day last month.

“What I do up here is important and I value it — but I enjoy the classroom more than I enjoy this job.”

Sen. Riebe: Battling to get Utah kids ‘over the finish line’

After beginning her education career in Long Island, New York, Riebe spent 24 years working in the Granite School District.

She now works as a digital teaching and learning coach for Northeastern Utah Educational Services, a public organization that supports several different Utah charter schools and districts.

Riebe ventured into elected service in 2016 with a successful run for the Utah State School Board.

“My frustration was that there were no full-time teachers or teachers that were still in the classroom creating policy for our schools,” she told the Deseret News.

That’s a frustration she still feels today — adding that policymakers lacking education backgrounds often make decisions to the detriment of Utah schools.

When asked about the challenges of being a Democrat serving in a Legislature dominated by the opposing party, Riebe said she prioritizes working with fellow educators — including superintendents, school boards and rural schools — when supporting education bills, even when those bills prove unsuccessful with her fellow lawmakers.

“I very rarely vote against what my school superintendents want. I’m pretty much 99.9% aligned with them.”

Riebe has launched a congressional campaign seeking her party’s nomination for Utah’s newly redrawn 1st District, so she has a lot on her civic plate.

But the educator/lawmaker acknowledges some education-specific issues still keep her up at night. Utah’s schools, she said, “are great places” doing “such great things.”

But Utah’s teachers, she added, are tired. Their class sizes are too big — and budgets are being cut.

“I just see our schools as being a place where we could do the best work with the most resources — but we just can’t get it over the finish line,” said Riebe.

“There’s no reason why any K-through-6 class should have more than 30 kids in class. … It’s really a detriment to our teachers staying in their jobs and being more productive in their jobs.”

More resources are needed, she added.

“Just seeing those shortfalls really is upsetting, because it wouldn’t be an overwhelming amount of money for us to do it well,” said Riebe. “We’re kind of just falling short, and that’s causing us to not be as successful as we can be.”

And Riebe still appreciates the energy felt only in front of a group of students.

“I really do miss being in a classroom,” she said. “And as I plan out the next couple of years, I’ll (be asking): ‘Do I want to be up here — or do I want to be back in a classroom?’

“And that weighs on me heavily.”