Every fall, Utah school districts scramble to fill teaching assignments. The vacancies result from retirements, teachers transferring to other schools and the opening of new schools.

Jordan School District, the state's largest, is coping with the retirement of 250 teachers after the district decided to reduce retirement benefits because of changes in federal and state accounting rules. Long-term substitutes are filling in until full-time replacements are found. The district hired 500 new teachers this year, compared to 300 and 400 in previous years, to cope with the retirement exodus and growth. Utah school districts compete with better-paying districts out-of-state, which further complicates the problem.

This issue becomes more pronounced as veteran teachers retire or leave the profession for better-paying jobs in the private sector. What will entice young people to become school teachers in a system that offers relatively low pay, has among the largest classroom sizes in the country and provides the lowest per pupil funding nationwide?

The issue becomes more critical as 150,000 new students are expected to enter the state's public school system over the next decade. Somehow, Utah's public school system has to continue to make teaching attractive to top-drawer college students who will have their pick of jobs if the economy continues to expand as state economists say it will.

Some people will teach school because they feel a calling to help shape young minds and teach tomorrow's leaders. But they will also inherit classrooms, which are drastically different from those of their own school experience. Utah's schools are far more challenging than they were in the past. Some schools have students who collectively speak 30 different languages. Many low-income students may attend several schools over the course of a school year, which is highly disruptive to their ability to learn and retain knowledge. Name any social ill and it eventually shows up in a public school setting.

All of this comes as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and state lawmakers contemplate changes to Utah's income tax system. Personal income tax is earmarked for Utah's public schools and higher education. According to Huntsman's proposal, lower personal income tax rates will prime Utah's economic development engine. The resulting economic growth will trickle down to the schools. Without an income tax adjustment, Utah simply cannot compete with surrounding states that have favorable personal income tax rates, Huntsman says.

A lot is at stake as state leaders contemplate these changes. These changes will affect schoolchildren and the system that educates them. We hope it will be for the better, because history tells us that the needs of Utah's public school system will intensify as the student population spikes and becomes more diverse. The overlay to that is providing sufficient resources to compete for quality teachers from other states and the private industry. These considerations must be at the forefront of lawmakers' deliberations as they consider changes to Utah's long-standing tax policy.