About 40 percent of Utahns believe schools charge too many fees or fees that are too high, but a majority appear to be more willing to pay fees than to have their taxes raised to cover the costs of school activities, a poll indicates.The majority of those polled - 51 percent - said they think fees should be charged only for extracurricular activities, not for books, labs and other items necessary to a child's education. Eighteen percent said they would prefer no fees at all, and 21 percent said that it is all right for schools to charge both for academic courses and for extracurricular activities.
The Deseret News/KSL Poll was conducted among 602 Utahns in early January. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.
The issue of school fees has been much in the public eye recently because of a 3rd District Court injunction that ordered Utah schools to abide by rules that provide waivers for students who can't afford the fees. As school districts complied with the order, they lost money that is used to pay for many school activities. Some schools have either cut activities or are considering cuts.
Utah's Constitution was changed in 1986 to allow schools to collect fees for students in grades 7-12. The idea was to shift some of the costs of education to the families of students, rather than expecting taxpayers to foot all of the education bill. Fees have grown consistently since, with the number of fees and the amount of charges varying considerably from district to district.
Although fees are not popular with many Utahns, the largest group of those polled - 48 percent - say they probably or definitely would oppose an increase in either property or income taxes to offset the fee revenue. Thirty-nine percent said taxes probably or definitely should be increased to cover the activities financed by fees. Thirteen percent said they had no opinion.
Feelings about whether schools charge too many or too high fees was evenly divided, with 40 percent saying the fees are definitely or probably too high. Thirty-nine percent indicated they believe the fees to be in line. However, a relatively large number of respondents - 21 percent - said they did not have an opinion.
Thirty-nine percent of those polled also said they think schools try to provide too many activities beyond the basic subjects, but 52 percent indicated they are satisfied with the level of school offerings.
The opinion on extending fees to the elementary grades was emphatic. Fifty-three percent said fees definitely should not be allowed in grades K-6, and another 19 percent said they probably should not be allowed. Only 10 percent felt elementary school fees would definitely be all right, and 11 percent felt that they probably would be acceptable.
If schools should cut activities because of the fee issue, music and athletics would be the last to go, the poll indicates. Seventy percent said they would object to reduction of music programs and sixty-two percent said they would resist cuts in athletic programs. Sixty-one percent said debate would be among their top priorities.
Forty-seven percent, on the other hand, said they would strongly or somewhat favor some trimming in cheerleading, pep clubs and drill teams. These have been identified as among the most costly of the school programs.
Additional Information*****
Deseret News/KSL poll
In your opinion do school districts allow or require too many fees for classes like art and music?
Definitely - 25%
Probably - 15%
Probably not - 22%
Definitely not - 17%
Don't know - 21%
Number polled: 602. Error margin: +/-4 percent. Conducted Jan. 5-6, 1993. Dan Jones and Associates. Copywrite Deseret News.