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Here’s what the Utah teachers union wants from lawmakers in 2025

Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney speaks at a news conference at the organization’s headquarters in Murray, Jan. 13, 2025. Members of the state’s largest teachers union stand behind Pinkney and hold signs.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney speaks at a news conference at the organization’s headquarters in Murray, Jan. 13, 2025. Members of the state’s largest teachers union stand behind Pinkney and hold signs.

Utah’s next annual legislative session starts Jan. 21 and public education is once again poised to be a big focus. High on the wishlist for the state’s largest teachers union is more funding to meet the needs of students and support educators.

Among other things, the Utah Education Association is asking for an increase to the Weighted Pupil Unit that is at least 3% more than what is required in law to cover inflation and enrollment growth. The WPU is how much money schools receive based on the number of students they have and other factors. The increase would represent about $135 million more in ongoing funding, according to the association.

The Utah State Board of Education also wants a similar increase. They would like lawmakers to approve a 6.8% increase, which is 3% higher than what is statutorily required.

According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, Utah spends the lowest amount of money on education per pupil compared to other states.

The association outlined its legislative priorities during a Jan. 13 news conference. President Renée Pinkney said both students and educators are still adjusting to life after the pandemic. Student behavior issues have also become a bigger issue over the past few years, Pinkney said, and teachers don’t feel supported by the state. She said educators are stressed and burnt out and some are resigning.

“Lawmakers need to understand that schools today and society today is far more complex than when they were in school.”

Becky Bissegger, a teacher at Salt Lake City’s Meadowlark Elementary, attended the event. She said students come to the classroom “with greater needs in every aspect of their lives” than they used to. As Bisseger talked, many of the educators standing beside her nodded in agreement. The ideal situation, to her, would be to have two adults in a classroom so that, for example, there is someone to help with behavior problems while the other educator can focus on teaching.

“There are a lot of extra demands that haven't existed until recently,” Bissegger said.

More than 1,400 of the group’s members responded to a survey about legislative priorities and 50.21% said funding for long-term staffing solutions is the most important priority. Reducing educator stress and burnout was also a top concern, with 44.20% saying this issue was critical. Providing behavioral support resources was a priority for 36.42% of respondents.

Many educators also mentioned reducing class sizes. Pinkney said that would allow teachers to spend more time with individual students. Smaller class sizes require more funding. She said teachers are doing everything they can, but the bottom line is they need more help.

“We need more hands on deck,” Pinkney said.

Colette Memmott, a teacher at Sunset Ridge Middle School in West Jordan, said they have “36 kids in one class. We have an abundance of extra things we have to do based on what kinds of kids are in that class. And it's exhausting.”

Pinkney said she often hears from teachers that the time it takes to get all their work done is often a lot more than the hours they’re contracted to work.

The association wants more paid professional hours for educators and lawmakers to continue funding the stipends for the student teacher pilot program. They also want more families to have access to free school meals.

On the behavioral support side, the association wants more resources for school safety and student well-being, like having more school psychologists, social workers and counselors. They also want additional resources to help improve student attendance and engagement.

While the teachers union has a list of things it wants, it is also clear about what it does not want lawmakers to do. They don’t want the state to give more money to the school voucher program, the Utah Fits All Scholarship.

In the survey of its members, 93.18% opposed expanding the voucher program.

The association is currently challenging the constitutionality of the program in court. Lawmakers created it in 2023 and expanded its funding the following year, so the state now allocates $82.5 million annually.

Advocates of the voucher program have said there’s a high demand and they want more funding. Some want to ask for an additional $200 million this year.

“When [lawmakers] are expanding a voucher program or continuing to invest in a voucher program, and we are competing for public dollars, that feels incredibly disrespectful to public educators,” Pinkney said.

She said Utah is not funding the public education system at the level it needs, even as it tries to fund what she sees as a second education system.

“We know that our students in public schools have needs that aren't being met,” Pinkney said. “And we are protectors of the promise of public education, and so we have [since] 1971 been opposed to vouchers.”

Similar to other education groups, Pinkney also wants to see a decrease in the number of education bills that lawmakers run. She said there are often bills presented as solutions to problems that don’t exist.

Martha is KUER’s education reporter.
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