Jon England

Jon England

Education Policy Analyst

jon@libertas.org

Jon is the Education Policy Analyst at Libertas Institute. He is a fourteen-year veteran of public schools. He taught both fifth and sixth grades, receiving Weber District’s E+ Team Award. He proudly homeschools his children with his wife.

Jon received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Western Governors University. He spent time in the Marine Corps and separated as a sergeant in 2006.

During his time in public schools, Jon increasingly understood the importance of parental empowerment in education. This increased understanding led him to join Libertas to provide educational freedom for families. Jon enjoys spending time with his wife and five children traveling, skiing, and playing games.

Jon England's Articles

Money isn’t the difference — they both spend just over $10,500 per student. But how they spend the money is.
In my 14-year career, I had never witnessed this amount of innovation and change in education. It was a change that responded to what parents and teachers and the dollars they represent wanted.
Many education funds come with restrictions on how they can or cannot be spent. The programs mean well, but the money comes with heavy bureaucratic rules. They limit schools’ and teachers' creativity and inhibit innovation.
The bill continues to emphasize special needs students and that will always be a priority, but families no longer have to choose between sibling support and educational opportunities for their children.
As a sixth-grade teacher in a low-income school, I did what I could in the system to support parents, but the system has limits. Sometimes, the best fit for students wasn’t a public school at all.