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Don't you believe it.

The next time you hear the governor or other Utah politicians say that in Utah children are our number one priority, don't you believe it. The next time you hear someone from the pulpit – any pulpit – say that we value children above all else, don't you believe it. The next time you hear legislators say they value children above politics, don't you believe it.

The facts point to different conclusions.

For more than 30 years, Utah has been at or near the bottom in per-pupil support for public education. That means one entire generation of Utah youngsters have been shortchanged during their most crucial years of learning – one whole generation is behind the rest of the nation in educational development. Only an army of dedicated educators has kept Utah children within shouting distance of average performance – educators who work in over-crowded classrooms and without sufficient textbooks or modern technology. (Don't give me that baloney about Utah students performing well on universal tests. Those tests are next to meaningless. Most so-called normative tests measure the wrong things – things of lesser importance to child development, not to mention of least importance to teacher performance.)

Legislators brag about large increases in education funding, but in real terms Utah spends less for education today on a per-pupil basis than we did a generation ago. Lawmakers would rather waste money on anti-government witch hunts than spend it on educating Utah children.

Recently, Utah was ranked worst in the nation for participation in early childhood education – probably the most important measure of a state's dedication to its youngest citizens. Leaders value children so long as they don't have to help the youngest of them get ready for what lies ahead.

In Utah, we segregate students by social and intellectual status. Such practices pretend that some of us are better than others. That is not what it says in the Declaration of Independence. One student may be different from another – even "gifted" — but that does not make him or her better. In reality, all forms of school segregation penalize both students and society, whether we call the segregation "school choice" or "honors program."

For years, Utah was among the top two or three states in residents with college education. Now, the state is number 15 — and dropping.

The Utah Legislature boasts of balancing the state budget. This year, they passed a bill to authorize borrowing $1 billion for roads and highways. (If that's balancing the budget, legislators operate in a different universe from the rest of us.) And who will pay for that billion-dollar bond? Our children, of course – the children lawmakers value so much that they load them with debt before they are old enough to complain.

In Utah, our misguided leaders seem to think taxpayers don't value children enough to pay for their needs. Apparently Utah leaders think we prefer material goods over education. Leaders are misled and misleading.

Years ago, we heard periodic sermons about "The glory of God is intelligence." That theme seems absent today. Perhaps God changed His mind. But I doubt it. I suspect God didn't change. His earthly followers did.

There was a time when my ancestors — newly arrived in Utah — sacrificed their own comfort in order to build a school and provide education for their children.

Today, evidence seems clear that those who make decisions for the rest of us ignore the example of our predecessors. Leaders seem to fear education and honesty more than they value children. Sadly, they believe Utah taxpayers share those same misguided values. I don't think so. And I'm confident my Utah friends and neighbors don't think so, either.

Don Gale remembers Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society." Contact dongale@words3.com