We wear it as if it’s a badge of honor.
Since the early 1980’s, Utah has ranked last in the United States in per-student spending. Reviewing this year’s data, our state dropped even further behind the second-to-last place state. Instead of reversing the trend of declining investment, we’re struggling to simply maintain current levels.
Per-student spending isn’t the only way to analyze Utah’s investment in education. In 1995, Utah ranked 7th in education funding effort, determined as a percent of an individual’s income directed to public education. We are now 32nd, resulting in a loss of $1.2 billion each year for Utah schools. Although we have more school aged-children than any state in the nation (which, in-part, explains the low per-student spending) we have reduced our effort in funding education over the last two decades.
Why would anyone want to proudly wear this badge?
According to Utah’s leading business community, decreased investment in education cannot continue if we wish to sustain the nation’s best economy. The state’s top job creators, from Scott Anderson of Zions Bank, Gail Miller of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies and Ron Jibson, most recently with Questar, are leading the Our Schools Now ballot initiative driven by their frustration in Utah’s lack of adequate resources for teacher and student success. They are supported in this endeavor by the Salt Lake Chamber and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah.
Opponents cry that it shouldn’t be about the money, and I don’t disagree. Neither does Utah’s fiscally responsible governor, Gary Herbert. For the last three years I have chaired the Governor’s Commission on Education Excellence and this fall, Governor Herbert released the Commission’s roadmap to make Utah the number one education state in America. The roadmap calls for new strategies in local schools that, taken together, total more than $1 billion in investment – beyond inflation and enrollment growth – toward increasing student achievement.
It isn’t all about the money, but investment has to be part of the solution. We have a serious teacher shortage, classroom sizes beyond capacity and stretched budgets that don’t allow for the proven strategies that will make an actual difference in our kid’s future.
Simply being last in the nation is not reason enough for additional funding. If our state was delivering high-quality education to every Utah student, we wouldn’t need to increase our investment. But consider the following, according to our own state-developed assessment:
44 percent of Utah students are not proficient in English Language Arts;
46 percent of Utah students are not proficient in Mathematics; and
48 percent of Utah students are not proficient in Science
Clearly, more than half of Utah students are not where they should be in core subject mastery. ACT scores and other national assessments also indicate that we are not providing each student with the learning opportunities they need to eventually support a family, start a business or live in strong and safe communities.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing things taking place in our schools. I know of countless teachers and principals that work wonders for their students, despite the insufficient resources we provide them. Quite frankly, it’s a testament to the dedicated teachers in this state that we have been able to endure decades of decreased investment.
Investing in our teachers to ensure student success isn’t a reward; it offers them the tools they need to meet and exceed our high expectations. Providing living salaries, smaller class sizes and additional instructional support in the classroom will keep great teachers where they want to be and help our students get to where they want to go.
The badge I hope to be wearing one day isn’t that we’re 51st in the nation in per-student spending, but that we are number one in student achievement. That’s a badge we can all be proud of.