The Utah Legislature passed a $29.4 billion budget at the end of the 2024 session and similar to years past, a lot of that money will go to public education.
Curious how the state puts together the education budget? Here it is in a nutshell: It starts with a base budget, which is the bulk of public education funding. It includes everything spent on public education in the previous year, minus any one-time funding. Lawmakers then have to adjust funding based on enrollment growth and inflation. Throughout the session lawmakers pass bills that allocate more money to public education and pass a final budget.
Here’s how education fared:
Weighted Pupil Unit
While local school districts share the responsibility of school funding, the state typically covers about 75% of the cost.
The shiny star in the state’s education budget is the Weighted Pupil Unit or the per-pupil funding amount. This determines how much money schools get based on their enrollment numbers and other factors.
Lawmakers increased the WPU by 5% this year. That’s an additional 1.2% above the required 3.8% increase to cover inflation. This means per-pupil funding went from $4,280 last year to $4,443. In total, this is a $211.7 million increase. It’s not nearly as high as the 12 to 13.5% increase the education community advocated for, but it does match Gov. Spencer Cox’s budget request.
Still, Utah School Boards Association President Teri Rhodes said she appreciates the 5%.
“In the last three years, it feels like the Legislature has really cared about making sure that public education in the state is funded well.”
In a statement, the Utah Education Association said that while the increase fell short of what groups asked for, “given the myriad needs in schools, the UEA found parts of the education budget encouraging.”
School vouchers
The state’s newest school voucher program, the Utah Fits All Scholarship, starts this year. At the moment, it's still in the application phase and no money has been given out to families yet.
Still, lawmakers pumped an extra $40 million into the program. While this is lower than the $150 million that was originally requested, it almost doubles how many students can get voucher money starting this school year.
Republican Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, co-chair of the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said the increased funding was needed because there was so much demand even before people could sign up. Lawmakers based that on numbers given to them by the advocacy group Utah Education Fits All.
“I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface of what the demand will be,” Fillmore said.
The funding increase was not supported by the public education community.
“That was a really hard one for us to see go through,” Rhodes said.
Not only has the program not started, but she thinks it also doesn’t include enough accountability for those tax dollars.
“It’s a lot of money leaving public ed to go to [the] private sector.”
For educators
Student teachers will also benefit from the budget. Those who currently work without pay will be able to apply for a $6,000 stipend through a program that lawmakers created this session.
It has $8.4 million in one-time funds which is enough for 1,400 student teachers. However, the state board has flexibility in how much money it can give to each student. It’s currently a pilot program and scheduled to end July 1, 2028.
Lawmakers also allocated $8.4 million in one-time funds to give teachers more money to pay for school supplies and $74 million one-time for more paid professional time.
Fillmore’s bill, “Market Informed Compensation for Teachers”, includes $150 million in one-time funds to give “top performing” teachers a bonus. He said this pilot program would allow teachers to be paid up to $100,000.
Rhodes said it’s hard to put a dollar value on educating and others have expressed similar concerns about how top-performing teachers will be decided.
She called the bill “intriguing” since school districts that choose to have this program will get to decide how they run it and she’s interested to see whether districts can create a successful model. If they do, she hopes the Legislature will give more ongoing funding for teacher bonuses in the future.
What else got funded
Lawmakers allocated $100 million in one-time funds for a massive school security bill. They also put $100,000 in ongoing funding toward giving teachers free training on firearms and how to defend their classrooms against threats, like an active shooter.
Lawmakers also got rid of some school fees starting in the 2025-2026 school year. After hearing concerns from educators, they added a one-time infusion of $35.5 million to help ease the transition of schools losing a source of revenue.
While Rhodes is excited about getting rid of school fees, she said the money, while helpful, is not enough. She said the Cache County School District, where Rhodes is a school board member, will lose about half $500,000 annually and that’s not something a district can easily absorb.
