For years, Utah's education system has produced a dichotomy. Students have ranked above the national average - and some near the top - in things such as test results, attendance at college and graduation from high school, but the state has ranked dead last in spending per student.
If Gov. Mike Leavitt's 1997 fiscal year budget is adopted, for the first time in the memory of most Utahns, the state will boost per-pupil spending enough to get Utah out of the cellar in national rankings.In what Leavitt calls his "amazing budget" - amazing because it has more money for nearly everyone - he has been especially generous with public education. The additional funding, requested year after year by teachers and education officials, will increase the per-pupil expenditure $276.
It means an 11 percent increase over the original appropriation for fiscal year '96 or what Leavitt calls a $181 million (increase) investment. It is by far the largest budget ever for public education.
Many of the items educators have included each year on their Christmas wish lists are beneath the tree this year in the governor's proposed budget.
Teachers have yearned for smaller class sizes; the governor's budget provides $32.5 million for class-size reduction. Teachers have longed for more money for textbooks and supplies; Leavitt's budget bestows $18.5 million for textbooks 'neath the tree.
Technology has been a big item in letters to Santa from educators and the governor. This year he had enough to add $26.5 million to his education technology initiative.
About half the money for class-size reduction will go to first grades, cutting class sizes to 18 students in that grade. Most of the rest will go to kindergarten, second and third grades.
The allocation to cut class sizes makes amazing sense in this amazing budget. Studies have long shown that smaller class sizes in the early grades have a direct effect on learning. It is less clear how much class size affects students' ability to learn in higher grades.
Another program initiated by the governor last year that gets to the heart of education needs is funding of highly impacted schools. Leavitt proposed to increase the number of high-risk schools receiving extra funds from the current 40 to 50.
This page has praised Leavitt's idea to use education to help curb social problems and crime by giving young disadvantaged students a good experience in school and a chance to succeed academically. Increasing this program, which has already shown some success, is a wise move.
The increase for high-risk schools amounts to $1.2 million, a relatively small investment if children can be helped before social problems ruin their lives. He is encouraging the schools to extend their school years to 200 days, a 20-day extension over the current calendar.
Studies have shown that a long summer away from school hinders learning among all students and even more so among disadvantaged children. Introducing the 200-day calendar here may get its "foot in the door" with other schools where students could also benefit from shorter summer breaks.
The continuation of Centennial Schools is also a good idea, but the schools must be monitored to ensure that the funds are meeting goals of the state's strategic plan.
The hallmark of the higher education budget is a year of no tuition increases, something higher ed students have long needed after decades of tuition hikes that exceeded inflation. Leavitt also predicted that colleges and universities will not raise fees; if they did, it would negate many of the benefits of the moratorium on higher tuition.
The governor continues his emphasis on technology in higher education, giving $13 million to a technology initiative and providing start-up funding for a "virtual university," linking Utah institutions with each other and with institutions in other Western states.
The governor held to his promise to hold the line on funding for new buildings for colleges and universities, budgeting only $20 million for bonding for capital expenditures. He is justified in urging higher education planners to utilize distance learning technology to reduce the reliance on on-campus facilities.
Teachers will get a 4 percent salary increase, as will other public employees.
All in all, the governor has proposed a very merry Christmas for education. Though some items will be disputed as the Legislature debates the budget, most will pass muster, and they should. It is, as Leavitt says, a "giant leap" for Utah education.