Utahns Say Improving Education is Top Priority for 2017 Legislature

January 17, 2017 (UtahPolicy.com)

So our underfunded schools, with teacher pay and resources a real issue, are doing pretty well as is.

But [Our Schools Now] says without concrete funding hikes, teachers will continue to quit the profession and Utah will fall behind the nation in quality education for our children.

As it stands just one week before the 45-day general session starts, the state has a bit more than $200 million more from the income tax (which all goes to schools) than it did a year ago.

But more than $60 million of that must go just to pay for new students anticipated for the Fall 2017 start of school, leaving well below the $750 million extra for other school enhancements.

And the funding shortfall has been going on for years.

While Herbert touts the fact that under his administration more than $1.4 billion in new money has come into schools, a Utah Foundation study shows the state is out $1.2 billion a year for schools because of tax “reforms” over the last 20 years.

In any case, Jones finds that there are only two demographic groups with less than 50 percent saying improving education should be this year’s Legislature’s top priority: Men and those who consider themselves “very conservative.”

Utah women are much more supportive of education improvements than are men: 42 percent of men say it should be the state’s top priority, 58 percent of women say it.

Historically, in Utah’s patriarchal, family oriented society, women have more to do with the raising and education of children than do men.

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