FARMINGTON -- Gov. Mike Leavitt says he scraped the bottom of the budget barrel to recommend a 2.5 percent increase in basic per-student state funding for public education, but a teachers union president says the number is an insult.
Last year, Leavitt recommended a 4 percent increase in the weighted pupil unit; the Legislature funded a 3.5 percent increase that mostly pays teacher salaries. Recent annual increases haven't fallen below 3 percent."It's absolutely demoralizing. . . . Teachers are sick and tired of balancing the state's budget on their backs," said Phyllis Sorensen, president of the Utah Education Association.
Responded Leavitt: "We would expect the Utah Education Association to advocate for more money. That's their job."
Leavitt's announcement on Tuesday was the second in a three-day unveiling of education budget initiatives, which include setting up alternative junior high schools for children with behavioral problems and imposing competency tests required for a high school diploma.
Utah spends the least money per pupil in the nation and is in the lower 20 percent in teacher salaries. Plus, the state could have had an extra $280 million or more for education every year for the past six years had it not given back that money in tax cuts, Sorensen said. Retiring State Superintendent of Public Instruction Scott Bean also has publicly lamented those numbers.
"We're pulling a little red wagon when we could be driving a Cadillac," Sorensen said. "I do blame the Legislature. They should be ashamed of themselves." Plus, she says, the governor's budget sets a benchmark that she expects lawmakers will not reach when final appropriations are made during the Legislature session, which begins in January.
The governor's $39.4 million WPU increase recommendation, unveiled Tuesday at Farmington Junior High in Davis County, would add about $47 extra to the WPU's current $1,854.
"This is frankly not as high as I'd like it to be. But we have other substantial (demands) right now," Leavitt said. Without scraping other base budgets, Leavitt said the suggested WPU increase would have been 1 percent.
While the recommendation had an explosive effect on some, Davis Superintendent Darrell White breathed a sigh of relief. His district had been preparing for a 2 percent WPU recommended increase.
"That's a heck of a lot better than nothing," White said. "In our view, this is a major effort on (Leavitt's) part."
Leavitt has acknowledged a slight downturn in the state's economic growth, and on Tuesday he said lawmakers have already committed funds to other projects. Still, he touts his plan as aggressive, though a larger picture won't be available until Friday, when his full budget is announced.
Other education budget items include:
$2 million to work with Youth Corrections and other agencies to create alternative middle schools for disruptive students, whose behavior often stems from a lack of academic competency, Leavitt said.
The money would fund operational costs of the program, which could be implemented within an existing school.
Middle-school principals now have few alternatives for disruptive students. But Davis Junior High, an alternative school in Clearfield that has 50 students, is deemed effective in helping kids receive the tools they need for academic success, Davis district officials say.
Development of standards and a basic skills competency test administered in the 10th grade, requiring passage to get a diploma. Students could take the test repeatedly until they pass. The state office of education would get $320,000 to develop the test.
$11 million for information technology in schools.
$7 million to reduce middle-school class sizes by 1.5 students.
Leavitt on Monday intrigued superintendents of Utah's 40 school districts by dropping hints about other education budget initiatives, although he did not provide numbers.
His gem is a reading initiative to better involve families in ensuring all children read by third grade, a move that follows two years of lackluster statewide test scores in elementary reading. Details were to be announced late Wednesday afternoon.