News Articles

Utah schools chief laments wilting funding

October 11, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - In his third annual State of Education speech Tuesday night, State Superintendent Larry Shumway praised teachers and Utah schools’ use of technology but had at least one major criticism: the state’s declining school funding effort.

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Healthy Environment, Strong Economy Can Co-Exist

September 24, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - The Utah Foundation recently released its first biennial Quality of Life Index, based on a rigorously designed survey of what a representative cross-section of Utahns consider most important to their well-being. Environmental quality was near the top of the list.

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The Utah Foundation Quality of Life Index – Blog Post

September 20, 2011 (Utah Data Points) - In Utah Foundation’s survey on quality of life, the dichotomy between the types of factors that Utahns felt were of high importance, and those that were of high quality was pronounced. The items that were of highest importance were all things that can be considered a part of Utah’s infrastructure and economic vitality, and can be affected by government and public policy.

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Interview on Quality of Life Index

September 13, 2011 (KCPW) - Jennifer Napier-Pearce interviews Utah Foundation President Steve Kroes about its recent report on quality of life in Utah.\r\n \r\n (Interview begins at 38:30 in the podcast)

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Utah Salaries

September 06, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - A new Utah Foundation study finds that the salaries of Utah public school teachers are not at the bottom among neighboring states. That’s good news. Because Utah is often alone in the cellar when it comes to the states’ investment in education.

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Utah Teacher Salaries

September 06, 2011 (Deseret News) - The Utah Foundation, a non-partisan research group, issued a report last week that laid out, in dry facts and figures, the truth about teacher salaries. Utah ranks in the middle of the pack among the Mountain States with which it typically has to compete for workers.

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Utah Teachers Earn Similar Salaries

September 02, 2011 (The Rod Arquette Show) - Utah\’s teachers earn comparable salaries to teachers in other Mountain States, despite national data that ranks Utah 49th in the nation for average teacher salary, according to a study released Thursday.

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Education Challenges

July 05, 2011 (Deseret News) - Utah no longer can say with any credibility that it devotes a higher percentage of its residents\’ personal income to fund public education than nearly every other state. That had been the standard comeback to the often-cited other side of the coin, that Utah spends less per pupil than any other state. A new study by the Utah Foundation, an independent research group, effectively lays that to rest.

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Huntsman’s record on education draws mixed reviews

July 05, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Of all the education bills Jon Huntsman signed as governor of Utah, at least one stands out in many Utahns’ minds: school vouchers.\r\n \r\n But amid the controversy that followed the signing — a referendum, TV commercials and millions of dollars poured into each side’s campaign — Huntsman himself did not stand out.

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McEntee: Remember Teachers Who Made a Difference

July 01, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - It’s not just about money when it comes to Utah’s system of public education. It’s about how much we’re able to value it.\r\n \r\n Last week, the Utah Foundation reported that, from 1992 to 2009, the state’s “funding effort” dropped from eighth in the nation to 26th. This on top of Utah’s long-standing rank at dead last in per-pupil spending and the Legislature’s unrelenting need to control it.

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Education Effort

July 01, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - It’s an old myth held dear by many Utahns, including far too many state legislators: While it’s true that Utah spends less per student on public education than any other state, taxpayers are forking over more of their personal income for schools that other Americans.\r\n \r\n That once was true. But now it decidedly is not.

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Report: Big Drop in Utah’s Education Funding Effort

June 30, 2011 (Deseret News) - Funding for education in Utah isn\’t the priority it once was, according to a report released earlier this week by a local think tank. \”In reality, Utah is not exerting a heavy effort and has not since the 1990s,\” the Utah Foundation report states.

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Report Details Significant Drop in State’s Education Funding Effort

June 29, 2011 (KCPW) - It’s already widely known that Utah spends the least amount of money per student in K-12 public education. But a new report from the Utah Foundation says on top of that, the effort put into public education funding has declined significantly since 1995. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with Steve Kroes, President of the Utah Foundation, about the report’s findings.

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Report: Decline in Utah ed funding effort is ‘unprecedented’

June 28, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - The decline in Utah’s education funding effort over the past 16 years is “unprecedented,” according to a new Utah Foundation research report. The report, released Tuesday, says that Utah’s funding effort has fallen significantly since 1995, placing it 26th in the nation for the amount of money public education receives for every $1,000 in personal income. The report calls the decline “unprecedented, especially given the state’s history of high proportions of personal income dedicated to … Continued

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How do Schools Spend Your Money?

April 17, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - In Utah — a state with a high proportion of children and the lowest base per-pupil spending in the nation — school funding is a perpetual concern. But its often misunderstood. Utah’s system for funding schools is a complex web of programs, formulas and terminology that can make it difficult for average Utahns to understand exactly how their tax dollars pay for education.

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Redistricting winners, losers predicted

March 23, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Population growth over the past decade should give more legislative seats to northern Utah County, southwestern Salt Lake County and Washington and Davis counties, a panel of leaders involved in redistricting said on Tuesday.

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Reining in state growth

February 19, 2011 (Deseret News) - Utah may be among the nations best managed states, and it may be poised to move forward in a recovering economy while many other states are in a prolonged crisis, but that does not mean the Beehive State could not benefit from some better rules.

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Taxes are low, but do not expect that to last long

February 13, 2011 (Deseret News) - I am guessing not many of you want to pay more in taxes, just as not many of you would volunteer for unneeded dental surgery or to use your head as a doorstop. At the same time, I am guessing not many of you think your current tax burden is too light. Taxes are to an adult what baths are to a child. No matter how little effort is involved, you would prefer to avoid … Continued

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