Nearly one fourth of the state’s budget is earmarked for education.
A new report released Tuesday gives a glimpse into what happens once it goes to your child’s school district.
Around $6 billion is spent every year on K-12 education in the state, according to Utah Foundation’s “Simple Arithmetic?” report, which also shows Utah spends the lowest in student spending.
In Utah classrooms, nearly $6,600 are spent on the average student. That’s 42 percent below the national average, according to Utah Foundation.
“This is not a small state anymore. We do have well over 600,000 kids in the state school system,” said Shawn Teigen, researcher.
Teigen oversaw Utah Foundation’s research. He found 62 percent of funding goes to pay educator salaries; just seven percent pays administrators.