Since the early 1980’s, Utah has ranked last in the United States in per-student spending. Reviewing this year’s data, our state dropped even further behind the second-to-last place state. Instead of reversing the trend of declining investment, we’re struggling to simply maintain current levels.
Per-student spending isn’t the only way to analyze Utah’s investment in education. In 1995, Utah ranked 7th in education funding effort, determined as a percent of an individual’s income directed to public education. We are now 32nd, resulting in a loss of $1.2 billion each year for Utah schools. Although we have more school aged-children than any state in the nation (which, in-part, explains the low per-student spending) we have reduced our effort in funding education over the last two decades.