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BETTER EDUCATION

Every Utah child should have access to high-quality education at neighborhood public schools, no matter their income level or zip code. Unfortunately, our state’s public education system has been chronically underfunded, consistently ranking last or close to last in per-pupil spending. Instead of giving our students and educators the resources they need to thrive and allowing locally elected school boards to do their jobs, our current leaders are focused on banning books, targeting LGBTQ kids, and siphoning tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from our public schools for vouchers. We deserve better.

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As Governor, Brian King will be a champion for students, parents, and teachers. He will support: 

  • Increasing teacher pay to retain talented educators and close the shortage gap

  • Increasing per-pupil funding

  • Repealing the voucher program, which has a disproportionately negative impact on public funding in rural communities

  • Ensuring that rural schools have the resources they need

  • Keeping culture war politics out of the classroom

  • Expanding vocational training programs in high schools and community colleges, and fostering partnerships between businesses and educational institutions to create pathways to high-demand careers

  • Expanding the free school lunch program and eliminating school lunch debt penalties on students (e.g. not being allowed to walk at graduation) 
     

This November, Utahns will also be voting on a constitutional amendment that, if enacted, would eliminate the state constitution requirement that all income tax would be used for education and the needs of children and people with disabilities. Instead, funding levels would be left to the discretion of the legislature. Brian strongly opposes this amendment. We should not trade constitutionally guaranteed funding of public and higher education and the needs of children and people with disabilities for more volatile, less consistent funding levels that can be changed from legislative session to session. Any change to the constitution also risks investments in teacher pay and retention as well as per-pupil funding levels, which are already low.

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Vote “No” if you want income tax prioritized for education rather than the legislature deciding, without meaningful restriction or criteria, what income tax will be used for.

  • This bill amends provisions regarding sensitive materials to provide commonsense and constitutional protection of access to educational materials while at the same time protecting children from access to harmful materials.

  • This bill requires the State Board of Education to submit to the Education Interim Committee recommendations for a new public education vision and mission.

  • This bill directs the establishment of the Utah Tech University Higher Education for Incarcerated Youth Program (HEIY.) This program allows incarcerated youth to earn college credit and degrees through Zoom or face-to-face methods. To date, HEIY has served 130 students who have earned in total 1783 credits. 

  • This bill created a Computer Science Master Plan which provides guidance for local education agencies for implementing computer science curriculums in elementary, middle, and high schools. It also created the Computer Science Grant Program which provides grants to eligible local education agencies for improving computer science learning outcomes and course offerings.

  • This bill amends provisions related to school overall ratings under the school accountability system.

  • This bill amends and enacts provisions related to assessments and accountability in the public education system.

  • This bill enacts provisions related to reproductive health education to allow parents to opt their children into age-appropriate evidence-based instruction to enable the student to make responsible and healthy decisions about sexuality, personal power, boundary setting, developing safe and healthy relationships, resisting peer pressure, including not making unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances and not making assumptions about a person’s supposed sexual intentions based on personal appearance. The lesson materials would include information about how pregnancy occurs, information about how to change behaviors that contribute to pregnancy at a young age, and sexually transmitted diseases and infections, including sexual abstinence and delaying initiation of sexual activity, reducing the frequency of sexual intercourse and the number of partners, and increasing the use of condoms and other contraceptives.

  • This bill amends and enacts provisions relating to the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Action Center.

  • This joint resolution of the Legislature urges Utah's public schools to provide their students with reading writing and math competency and with broad enrichment opportunities in other subjects.

  • This joint resolution of the Legislature recommends that performance pay or differentiated pay plans for public school teachers be developed using certain guiding principles.

LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS

STATISTICS

  • 59% of Utahns oppose their local school board removing certain books from classrooms and libraries

  • Teacher pay in Utah is $5,400 lower than the national average

  • Utah spends $4984 less per pupil than the national average

  • 65% of voters say it's important for public school libraries to represent a variety of perspectives about controversial issues.

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