A common critique of concerns about Utah’s education spending is this demographic fact: We have larger families and fewer working taxpayers to support them as a consequence. Nevertheless, there was a time when we put more financial effort into educating our young charges. From the 2016 Utah Foundation report on education spending, “Over the past twenty years, Utah’s K-12 education funding effort — or the amount spent per $1,000 personal income — has decreased from seventh highest in the nation to 37th.” Result: “a $1.2 billion reduction of funds available annually for public K-12 education.”
Given the evisceration of education funding over time, little wonder Utah’s class sizes are currently second highest in the nation. It’s no surprise that Utah teachers quit far more often than the national average. By 2015, 56 percent of teachers who started teaching in 2008 had left Utah classrooms. Pay is one complaint, but so are working conditions. Excessively large classes make it impossible to meet each child’s diverse needs effectively.
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