Utah’s annual legislative session starts Jan. 21. And for 2025, a group representing local school board members has a request for lawmakers: Stop passing so many education bills.
“Just the sheer number of bills that have created new rules, programs and reports for [school] districts, it’s become overwhelming, especially in the last few years,” said Teri Rhodes, president of both the Utah School Boards Association and the Cache County school board.
Rhodes said school districts and charter schools are having to spend a significant amount of time and money to stay in compliance with the legislative changes.
“So much of our time and effort is being drawn away from taking care of our students because of these new bills and just reporting requirements.”
The Utah School Boards Association and the Utah School Superintendents Association are running an informational campaign this year asking lawmakers to limit the number of education bills they bring forward.
But this isn’t a new request.
Rhodes has been a school board member for almost 12 years. In that time she said there hasn’t been a year where those in the education community don’t ask for fewer education-related bills.
Each year, the Utah State Board of Education publishes a report of the education bills passed by lawmakers. The impact of each bill ranges from requiring schools to change their rules or create a new program to something schools should be aware of.
In 2014, the report listed 64 bills. In 2024, there were 105 pieces of legislation.
Legislation passed in 2024 created seven new reporting requirements for schools, Rhodes said. Part of the problem, she said, is they often don’t come with additional funding.
One district administrator told the association they had to hire a part-time, private contractor to help them keep track of the new bills and adjust policy. That was on top of the full-time staff the district already had to stay on top of the changes.
In most cases, Rhodes said districts are usually out of compliance with the laws in some way. Additionally, some laws are passed and then revisited so lawmakers can tweak them, which means the goalpost gets moved.
“I think that’s the most disappointing thing to me with current legislators is the attitude of ‘Well, we don’t have time to get it right now, so we’ll pass it and then fix it later,’” Rhodes said.
Local school board members are frustrated, Rhodes said. She feels the Legislature is taking away the power of local entities to determine what’s best for their community.
“What happens in Grand County School District is very different from what happens in Granite School District.”
It’s not just those in the education community asking for fewer bills.
After the 2024 legislative session, Gov. Spencer Cox sent a letter to Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz expressing his concern with the overall number of bills passed that session. There were 591 passed compared to 370 bills passed in 2005.
“The problem is that with each bill a legislator runs, there is significantly less time to pay attention to everyone else’s bills. Ultimately, we end up with lots of new laws, but not necessarily the best versions of those laws,” Cox wrote.
Rhodes believes lawmakers and those in the education community all have the same goal of making sure Utah students receive the best education, but she said the number of bills has been counterproductive.
“We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with legislators who are willing to do it well from the beginning, and are willing to focus on what really needs to be done.”
