As the Utah Legislature considers cutting millions from public school spending, one lawmaker is questioning whether a fine arts education program should continue receiving state funds, citing support its partner organizations have given LGBTQ initiatives that happen outside of schools.
The Professional Outreach Program in the Schools (POPS) is managed by the Utah State Board of Education and now partners with 15 non-profits — including the Utah Shakespeare Festival, TannerDance and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts — to bring arts education into classrooms.
POPS is among dozens of education programs facing possible funding cuts next year, because the Legislature has asked every state agency to model what a 5% cut would look like. The Legislature’s Executive Appropriations Committee is looking to build up a reserve in case of a financial downturn.
K-12 education, which receives the most funding from the state, has uniquely been told it doesn’t need to account for the full 5% figure — which would amount to $295 million of the state’s $5.9 billion schools budget.
Instead, lawmakers directed USBE to come up with a plan to cut $163 million. The board came up with two proposals that members presented to lawmakers last week.
The first proposal fell short of lawmakers’ $163 million target, recommending just $37 million in cuts. The second combined those $37 million in targeted cuts with a sweeping 6% reduction across all remaining programs – including POPS.
Lawmakers will have final say on which education programs are cut, and by how much.
Officials from several POPS partner organizations urged the Legislature’s Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday to keep funding the program in full, arguing it brings the arts to more than 500,000 Utah students.
That plea was met with pushback from Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, who objected to activities promoted by SpyHop, a digital media arts center that offers afterschool and summer programs for kids ages 9-19, according to its website.
SpyHop, a POPS partner organization, MacPherson said, had previously hosted a “Queer Prom.” That event, according to SpyHop’s website, was held at its Salt Lake City headquarters in 2024.
“When an organization is clearly out there stating land acknowledgements, they’re organizing Queer Prom events for schools, they’re supporting gender ideology in youth … . It’s clearly in opposition to many of the statutes and priorities of the Legislature,” MacPherson said Tuesday.
POPS officials stressed the Queer Prom event was not part of the programming SpyHop presents in schools as a POPS partner. All public education programming by POPS, they said, is in full compliance with state law, which prohibits schools from sponsoring or endorsing any political activities.
“I can assure you that all 15 organizations that are part of POPS are in compliance on those measures,” Michael Bahr, executive managing director of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, told lawmakers. “There’s multiple other services that are provided by these organizations. … But every bit of programming that goes out to public schools has to go through a rigorous process.”
Other lawmakers expressed support for POPS and fine arts funding in general.
“One of the most detrimental things that we can do for a program as impactful as POPS is to do a cold turkey cut,” said Rep. Jason Thompson, R-River Heights. “The level of impact of this program has statewide — getting the arts to our classrooms, no matter what district you’re in around the state — has significant impacts.”
Thompson added that while he doesn’t support any cuts to POPS, he’s made it clear his support “is contingent upon them adhering to these rules and these standards.”
The program received roughly $6.1 million from the state this year, and each participating organization is required to provide one-to-one matching funds on top of what the state offers.