Renée Pinkney

Park City social studies teacher Renée Pinkney left her classroom to serve a three-year term as president of the 18,000-member Utah Education Association. She was elected to the office by her fellow educators in a 2022 statewide vote. Her term began July 15, 2022.

“It’s an honor to represent the talented and dedicated public school teachers of Utah,” said Pinkney. “I believe a strong public education system is critical to Utah’s future and should be our state’s top priority. I look forward to working with teachers, parents, policymakers and others to guarantee an environment where every public school student can succeed.”

Pinkney has taught in Utah public schools for 27 years. She served as UEA vice president from 2019 to 2022 and as a member of the UEA Board of Directors representing the Eastern Utah UniServ from 2016 to 2019.

“Renée represents the very best of the good things happening in Utah’s public schools,” said UEA Executive Director Jennifer Boehme. “She is a professional educator dedicated to students and the teaching profession. She has a tremendous passion for public education and for creating an environment where all students can feel safe and find success.”

Pinkney succeeds Heidi Matthews who served six years as UEA president. During her tenure, Matthews led the charge to increase Utah public school educator salaries by an average of more than 30% over six years, worked with lawmakers and Governors Gary Herbert and Spencer Cox to secure the largest sustained public school funding increases in Utah’s history, and represented teachers and students through a very difficult pandemic experience.

Heidi Matthews

Also beginning a three-year term July 15 is UEA Vice President Brandon Baca. Baca teaches geography and history at Sand Ridge Jr. High School in Weber School District. The UEA vice president is a part-time position.

About the Utah Education Association—

For more than a century, the Utah Education Association has been dedicated to preserving and enhancing Utah public education. The UEA is the largest public education employee association in Utah, representing 18,000 active classroom teachers, retired educators, administrators, licensed educational support personnel and campus student organizations. The UEA has local affiliates in each of the state’s 41 school districts, Applied Technology Colleges, and the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.