Despite a tight budget year, education fared better than a lot of other programs when it came time for the 1988 Legislature to hand out the bucks, according to a study by the Utah Foundation.
The foundation, a private tax research organization, said enrollment growth in public schools was fully funded and limited increases were provided for other programs. Higher education was also given some additional funding, but probably not enough to accommodate all of the students who would like to attend college next year.Education spending authorized for fiscal 1988-89 totaled nearly $1.4 billion representing about a 1 percent increase over fiscal 1987-88 authorizations. Public education will get slightly more than $1 billion and higher education will receive $348 billion, the foundation found.
Besides financing regular school operating programs, the foundation's report points out, that legislators also appropriated $73.9 million for a host of special programs, including, career ladders, pupil transportation, utilities and insurance.