All this is occurring even though Utah’s per-pupil public school funding consistently ranks last among the 50 states. According to 2016 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, the most recent available, Utah spent $6,953 per student. That same year, the Census pegged Oklahoma’s per-pupil funding at $8,097.
Yet education results in the two states don’t track with spending. National Assessment of Educational Progress scores in math and reading are higher in Utah than in Oklahoma. When U.S. News and World Report ranked state education systems in 2018, Utah’s pre-K-12 schools ranked 20th best. Oklahoma’s landed 42nd.
Utah also is defying other common prescriptions regarding ideal learning environments. In a column, Peter Reichard, president of the Utah Foundation, a public policy research organization, noted Utah “has the second-largest class size in the nation.” So small class sizes don’t explain the difference.
