August 15th, 2024

The beginning of the 2024-2025 school year marks Utah’s first year of the Utah Fits All Scholarship with hundreds of national and local vendors vying for Utah’s taxpayer dollars. Through this program, homeschool and private school students may receive up to $8000 to pay for their educational needs. Primarily, the funds will pay private school tuition or the costs of homeschooling. The allowable expenditures include common instructional materials like reading curriculum, tutors, or electronic devices. And then there are the requests for broader educational “needs” like horseback riding lessons or the purchase of a trampoline for the backyard – all covered by the Utah Fits All scholarships.

Given the broad range of allowable expenditures, how will legislators and taxpayers measure the impact of these “scholarships?” While there are numerous assessments and accountability metrics demanded of our public schools, the accountability required for recipients of the Utah Fits All scholarship are minimal at best. An annual portfolio submission is required but that provides no data on outcomes for students who leave public schools. Curating any student learning results will be nearly impossible beyond how the funds were spent and the number of scholarships applied for and provided.

By contrast, let’s consider the accountability measures required of full-day kindergarten. Over a 15 year period, the Utah Legislature slowly and methodically invested in opportunities for Utah’s children to attend optional full-day kindergarten. After collecting statewide data for a few years, an accumulation of consistent and compelling student learning results showed two times better growth in reading and four times better growth in math for students attending full day kindergarten compared to half day (USBE, 2021). Now full day kindergarten is an option for every child in the state. The Legislature demonstrated great resolve to ensure that the $67 million investment would yield results prior to fully investing in the initiative.

The same thoughtful, deliberative process demonstrated by the legislature with statewide full-day kindergarten appears to be absent with the $80 million allocated to the Utah Fits All Scholarship. There is no transparent strategy to gather evidence of educational impact on students’ learning leaving Utah’s taxpayers to fit the bill for horseback riding lessons and trampolines for years to come.

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August 22nd, 2024

As students across the state prepare to go back to school this year, each of us is filled with a profound sense of gratitude for the teachers and support professionals who make our schools warm, engaging and inviting places to learn.

Teachers are more than just educators; they are mentors and guides who illuminate the path to knowledge. Their dedication goes beyond lesson plans and grading. They invest time in understanding each student’s unique needs, strengths, and interests. Every one of us can remember a time when a teacher’s encouragement helped us overcome self-doubt and see something in ourselves that we had not yet recognized in ourselves. One such teacher for me was Noreen Francis, my high school English teacher. She had the extraordinary capacity to connect with every single student. Ultimately, it was Mrs. Francis’ belief in me that motivated me to become an English teacher. I will be forever thankful to her!

Support professionals also play a vital role in our children’s success in school. From bus drivers, custodians and food service workers who work so hard to create the right environment to librarians who nurture a child’s curiosity—providing them with valuable resources. Collectively, their impact is immeasurable.

We should each be reminded of how fortunate we are to have such dedicated men and women supporting our children. Their passion and perseverance is truly inspiring.

Hear from some of our amazing teachers in the video below!

It’s time to get involved:

• Join us: Follow Education First on Facebook and Instagram to learn how you can empower Utah’s education system!

• Use your voice: Share our message on your platforms and within your networks. Use your influence to inform others about education policy!

• Spread the word: Forward this email to your family, friends and co-workers and invite them to subscribe to Education First’s weekly policy updates on educationfirstutah.org/join.

  
  

Join us as we make education Utah’s top priority!

August 29th, 2024

The Utah Legislature is asking voters in November to remove the constitutional earmark designating income tax dollars for public education. For nearly a century, Utah’s constitution has “earmarked” income tax revenue for education. There are potential benefits and risks of this approach.

Pros:

1. Increased flexibility: Removing the earmark would grant legislators greater flexibility in building the state’s budget. This adaptability would be beneficial in responding to shifting economic conditions or unexpected crises.

2. Balanced budget: Earmarks can create financial rigidity, potentially leading to budgetary imbalances if one revenue stream outpaces another. Removing the earmark would make it easier for legislators to balance the budget.

3. Opportunity for reform: The removal could pave the way for a more comprehensive reform of the state’s tax and funding systems. This could lead to innovative approaches in funding education and other public services, fostering a more modern and responsive financial strategy.

4. Other benefits: If the amendment passes, statutes will go into effect to protect schools from any cuts for declining enrollment for five years and the state portion of the sales tax on food.

Cons:

1. The guarantee of funding education will be gone. The earmark for education was put in the constitution to make sure future lawmakers could not use funds from the income tax for anything but education. That priority has served the state well for 93 years.

2. Risk of underfunding education: Without the earmark, there is a risk that education might face reduced funding as lawmakers prioritize other budgetary needs. This could negatively impact the quality of education and exacerbate funding disparities. Utah is already 49th in the country for education funding.

3. Long-term impact uncertainty: The long-term effects of removing the earmark are uncertain. No budget framework has been developed for how education and other state priorities will be funded. In fact, with just over 40 days before ballots go out, the text of the constitutional amendment still hasn’t been shared with voters.

4. Education may have to depend on less certain sources of funding. The income tax is the rock of all state taxes. The income tax is the most dependable source of money for the state with the least fluctuation from year to year.

5. Removing the earmark poses risks to consistent and sufficient funding for our public schools. Eliminating the earmark risks greater instability in funding our schools.

The proposed language to change the sources of funding for education in Utah requires careful consideration by every Utah voter. It is a decision that will likely impact education for the next 100 years.

It’s time to get involved:

• Join us: Follow Education First on Facebook and Instagram to learn how you can empower Utah’s education system!

• Use your voice: Share our message on your platforms and within your networks. Use your influence to inform others about education policy!

• Spread the word: Forward this email to your family, friends and co-workers and invite them to subscribe to Education First’s weekly policy updates on educationfirstutah.org/join.

  
  

Join us as we make education Utah’s top priority!