This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's education system is desperate for another billion dollars a year. Every year. Just to get above water. I am proposing two bills, Senate Bill 104 and Senate Joint Resolution 4, which together present a serious and fair plan to change the paradigm on education funding for both higher ed and K-12 for the next generation.
The scope of the crisis in education funding should cause parents, young people, the business community and all Utahns to shudder. Over the last generation Utah's lack of commitment to education funding has had a devastating effect.
Utah ranks 50th for school funding in per-child spending at $6,800. The national average is $10,800. Wyoming spends $15,800 per student. We have the largest classroom sizes in the United States, with the lowest number of administrators (principals, counselors and nurses) and the lowest paid teachers per student in the country. The problem does not lie with our education professionals. Given the starvation funding they receive they are Utah's heroes!
Among the disturbing outcomes from years of funding neglect is a declining high school graduation rate, a fall from near the top in fourth grade scores to 20th in the nation in math and 14th in reading.
The time for piecemeal solutions is over. We have been squeezing, readjusting and computerizing education for a generation. What is needed now is a large and sustained revenue stream increase.
Here is the simple solution. First, repeal the devastatingly unfair 2006 flat tax that has robbed our school children of billions of dollars and poured it into the pockets of our richest citizens. Repealing the flat tax will bring in an additional $180 million dollars per year for our children.
With my bill, SB 104, Utahns making under $250,000 will pay no additional income tax. Utahns making between $250,000 and $1,000,000 will pay 1 percent more, those making more than $1,000,000 a year will pay an additional 2 percent. The maximum state tax rate before the flat tax was 7.2 percent, so even with these changes, Utah's millionaires will still be paying a lower tax rate than they did in 2006.
Unfairly, as it stands now, the struggling single mom with two kids is paying the same rate as the Huntsmans and Romneys.
Once we return a semblance of fairness to our income tax system through the elimination of the flat tax, we can go back to the rest of the state and ask everyone to step up their commitment to education.
The second part of this education plan will put on the ballot a 1 percent increase in the sales tax (excluding food and utilities). That would bring in almost $500 million of new money into our education system. These added funds would be earmarked specifically for education both K-12 and higher education.
Joe Biden says, "Show me your budget and I will show you your priorities." Each year we hear the governor and the Legislature offer lip service to the idea that Utah's highest priority is education. My proposal adds an infusion of nearly $700 million dollars per year directly into education. That's walking the talk!
Sen. Jim Dabakis is a Democrat from Salt Lake City.