This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah business leaders concerned that Utahns won't be sufficiently schooled to support tomorrow's economy have formed a political action committee to counter what they say is lawmakers' unwillingness to support education.
"In this globalized world, [young Utahns] won't be able to compete unless they have a superior education," said Nolan Karras, co-chairman of the new PAC, Education First. "I don't believe the education system we have now is innovative enough and capable of competing in that worldwide environment. Our test scores are dropping. We're not competing against peer states."
His words aren't a dig at Utah educators, but at a legislative agenda that PAC leaders say advances ideological interests above learning outcomes.
But legislative leadership maintains education already is its chief priority.
Karras, a member of the state Board of Regents, one-time Republican gubernatorial candidate, and a former speaker of the Utah House, is lending his influence to the new PAC, which was launched in September. Co-leaders are fellow Regent Bob Marquardt, an executive with Management and Training Corp., and Jesselie Anderson, who heads the Salt Lake Community College Board of Trustees. More than 35,000 people have signed its "call to action."
"Putting education first puts our economy first," states the group's website. "Educational investment and innovation will create a path to the strongest economy in the nation."
The group insists the Legislature must dramatically increase spending on public and higher education and implement recommendations outlined by the governor's Education Excellence Commission. Such investments are necessary to achieve the education goals articulated by the Chamber of Commerce-led Prosperity 2020 plan, as well as those of Gov. Gary Herbert, leaders argue. Key goals include 90 percent of third-graders and sixth-graders achieving math and reading proficiency, and two-thirds of working-age adults holding a postsecondary degree or certificate.
As proof that lawmakers are already committed to these objectives, Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said the share of state spending going to education is on an upward track. Since the recession's onset in 2008, when a series of budget cuts began, the portion going to public education rose from 46 to 51 percent, while higher education spending has held firm at 15 percent.
"I'm in harmony with the goals of Prosperity 2020, maybe not their methodology," said Waddoups. "I think higher education needs more."
He noted the governor's proposed budget does not call for much increased spending on colleges and universities next year outside of the University of Utah's costly plans to restore its medical school class size and to rebuild its aging infrastructure.
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Getting more money • If the new PAC wants more money for education, it should work toward lifting restrictions on developing natural resources on federally owned land, Waddoups suggested. "Locking up" oil, gas and coal stunts economic development and starves the state of tax revenues, he argued.
Utah, a state with a large number of children, spends $6,062 per student per year, far below the national average of $10,441. Aligning Utah spending with the national average would cost nearly $2.4 billion, requiring an income tax increase from the current rate of 5 percent to 9.4 percent, according to Waddoups.
"We are wise stewards. We do more with our dollars than most other states," he said. "We have helped [universities] build new buildings, and get new four-year degree programs on their campuses, and we're allowing Dixie [State College] to become a university."
Still, education leaders say they have trouble advancing crucial initiatives through the legislative process, according to Rich Kendell, a former commissioner of higher education. In recent legislative proceedings, educators have been accused of steering students into "degrees to nowhere," dishing liberal propaganda in the classroom and protecting lazy professors with tenure.
"We are concerned about the lack of good will on the hill," said Karras during a recent visit with The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial board. "Our goal is to build trust between the Legislature and education leaders."
Education First's steering committee reads like a who's who of influential Utahns. It lists three former governors and six sitting regents, as well as several business leaders and institutional trustees, including the University of Utah trustees chairman Clark Ivory, who is a prominent Utah homebuilder, and his Utah State University counterpart, Ronald Jibson, a Questar executive.
"We hope [lawmakers] will listen to a different dynamic this year," Kendell said.
For the coming legislative session, the PAC has outlined $127.5 million in additional educational spending, including major infusions into higher education to support enrollment growth and improved completion rates.
Education First has no intention of unseating lawmakers it sees as hostile to education, but it will groom candidates to run for vacant legislative seats, such as that of Sen. Daniel Liljenquist, the Bountiful Republican who is resigning to mount a shot at Orrin Hatch's seat in the U.S. Senate.
In the meantime, PAC leaders want lawmakers to refrain from acting like a "super school board."
"Their responsibility is to set goals and objectives that can be measured for education," Bouchard said, "not to dictate policy on how [schools] operate."
Every session, bills seek to manage curricula, terms of employment, commissioner selection, software purchases, even the contents of vending machines — areas that properly belong under the purview of the state Board of Regents and boards of education, school district superintendents and university presidents. A private business subjected to this kind of pressure would be "doomed to failure," Bouchard said.
"Imagine a board that dictates 100 policy changes a year," he said. "It's really a fundamental business error. We see how it affects outcomes negatively."
Waddoups cautioned that lawmakers are obliged to listen to their constituents.
"Education is the No. 1 issue people talk to them about. The bad ideas don't pass, and the ones that do are good ideas," he said.
Education First: About the new PAC
A new Chamber of Commerce-led political action committee is pushing for a big expansion of public spending on schools and a reduction in legislative tinkering with teaching.