School spending declines

Utah has stepped backward in per-student education spending for perhaps the first time since the 1980s enrollment boom, the State Office of Education is reporting.

The state in 2001-2002 spent an average $4,706 per student, state data show. In 2002-2003, the number dropped to $4,651.

The numbers reflect budget times of plenty dashed by an act of terrorism. But now that state budget numbers show economic improvements, school officials hope education can be at the top of legislators' funding priority list.

"We're not making the progress some think we have. It's unfortunate," said Jim Eldredge, director of legislative services for the Utah Education Association. "But we're hoping now we can turn that around."

Legislators set budgets for the 2002-2003 school year in winter 2002, shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and ensuing economic downturn. At the time, schools took an approximately $30 million cut in their some $2.2 billion budget.

And per-pupil spending — calculated to include only instruction, supplies and support services and not federal or local building or other funds — dipped about $50.

Utah already is last in the country in per-student spending. Still, though national numbers for that fiscal year are not yet available, other states are likely to show similar drops, said Patty Murphy, specialist in finance and auditing for the state education office.

School districts say they were pinched by the state's tightening belt.

Granite District's per-student funding fell from $4,517 to $4,468 that year. The district cut staffing across the board by 4 percent, increasing class size, and eliminated library media specialists in elementary schools to make ends meet. Last year, voters in the 69,600-student district approved a $2.9 million leeway to protect class sizes this school year.

Carbon School District's per-student spending fell from $6,490 to $5,738. Woes were compounded by declining enrollments, which mean less state and federal funds. The district has cut staff, some by attrition, to help make ends meet — something it may repeat as rolls are expected to drop another 240 students in the 3,800-student district, superintendent David Armstrong said.

Jordan School District, the state's largest, also felt the budget cuts. But its per-pupil spending actually increased, from $4,282 to $4,304, state data show.