In a Deseret Morning News opinion column, John Florez seems to labor under the misapprehension that the public education system in Utah is top heavy.
Let's cut to the facts.
Under any measurement of education administration costs, Utah school districts are stingy when compared with the rest of the nation. In U.S. school districts, the average cost of administration is $146 per student. In Utah it's only $46, and in Granite School District, we spend a mere $36 per student. Of Granite District's 4,942 full-time employees, administrators total only 196, which includes our principals. That's only one administrator per 352 students.
The challenge to this state is that students are in high proportion to taxpayers when compared with other states. But that is no reason to short-change their education.
Randy Ripplinger
Salt Lake City