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.”