'Big' boost sought for crowded schools

If you thought schools crammed in a bunch of children already, consider this: Utah schools are expected to take in another 14,700 students next school year, and it's going to cost nearly $67 million extra to make sure they all learn the Three R's, the State Office of Education reports.

But that's just a fraction of an unprecedented $3.1 billion budget the State Board of Education is seeking from the Utah Legislature. To make that dream come true, the Legislature would have to hand over an extra $347 million — a 12.7 percent increase over last year's funding.

"It is big," said Patrick Ogden, state associate superintendent who oversees budgeting. "Most of it is in continuation costs."

The budget request mostly hinges on a 5 percent increase in the weighted pupil unit, the state's basic per-student funding formula. That would cost $101.6 million.

Growth also is a big part of it. Of the nearly 14,700 new students expected next fall, 6,000 would be moving in from out of state, state education finance and budgeting specialist Patty Murphy said.

The rest of the budget would fund various programs, including $16 million to make sure fourth- through sixth-graders master pivotal math concepts introduced at that age, and $6.1 million to help high school students struggling to pass the basic skills test required for high school graduation.

Those requests were ignored last Legislature.

The budget also includes $903,000 to replace special education funding cuts resulting from the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships voucher program; $3.3 million for school guidance counselors; $7.5 million for charter schools; and $6.1 million in one-time money for teacher supplies.

Absent is money to help improve teacher quality in accordance with a task force report forwarded last month; that funding would be requested in the 2007 Legislature, Ogden said.

The budget request also doesn't include money for optional, full-day kindergarten programs, a measure that incurred the wrath of some parents last month but that the board planned to discuss again in January. Board chairman Kim Burningham has said he expects to see full-day kindergarten in Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s budget request, to be released Friday.

The board's finance committee also discussed reform measures, including asking lawmakers to set the statewide basic property tax to bring in more money with inflation. Right now, the rate goes down almost annually to bring in the same amount of money. If it didn't, schools would have collected $840 million since 1996.

A similar proposal hit a dead end on Capitol Hill a few years ago and is not part of lawmakers' tax reform proposals. Critics have said it's essentially an annual property tax increase.

Also discussed were: creating a line item to help students learning to speak English (Ogden says money isn't keeping pace with need); turning one-time money for Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships into an ongoing program using nonschool funds; and dedicating half of annual school fund surpluses to technology — a measure that would bring in $40 million next school year.

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com