Striving to better, oft we mar what's well

To split or not to split; that is the question.

Where is William Shakespeare when you need him?

Perhaps Bill could make sense of this controversy over splitting school districts in Salt Lake County. No one else has done the job.

Wealthy taxpayers on the east side of Salt Lake Valley want to split two of the state's largest school districts — Jordan and Granite. They think themselves better than folks on the west side — at least, better able to operate schools.

"Striving for the better, oft we mar what's well," said Shakespeare in "King Lear." And this controversy is, indeed, shaping up to be a tragedy.

Even the Utah Legislature got into the act, coming into special session to figure out not what is best for schools, but how to keep Salt Lake County government off the stage. Lawmakers conspired to slap down elected leaders close to the issue. Surely, Shakespeare was not referring to the Utah Legislature when he wrote: "'Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss." Or was he?

In times past, Jordan School District was the wealthiest district in Utah, thanks to a west-side taxpayer named Kennecott. The district almost literally had more money than it could spend. (Now, the wealth has moved east, but the east-siders are loath to return the favor.)

At the same time, neighboring Granite District was struggling. Sandwiched between affluent Jordan and Salt Lake districts, Granite included plenty of farm property but not much wealth.

Folks in Granite didn't think it fair. And it wasn't.

A visionary governor named Cal Rampton sat down with thoughtful legislative leaders. (They were thoughtful in those days, especially about long-range interests of the state and its people.) They fashioned a program to equalize funding for school districts across the state based on student population, not property value.

The state constitution requires all revenue from the income tax to be invested in public education, and so income tax revenue was used to equalize school funding statewide. Utah's equalization program was admired and copied by other states. The program was a great success, improving education throughout the state.