Utah last in U.S. in spending per pupil — again

SALT LAKE CITY — Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau comes out with a state-by-state education funding per pupil report. And every year, it seems, Utah comes in dead last.

The 2007-08 school year was no different, with the Beehive State ranking far behind the rest of the national pack, according to the census data released Monday.

"It's been said over and over again, we stack them deep and educate them cheap," said Larry Newton, school finance director for the Utah State Office of Education. "It gets old, but it's not new."

The census found that Utah schools spent on average $5,765 per student in 2007-08. Idaho was second-lowest at $6,931 — but that was still 20 percent higher than what was spent in Utah.

Nationally, schools spent $10,259 per student on average. That is almost twice as much as in Utah.

New York spent the most per student of any state — $17,173. That is about three times as much as Utah spent.

A key demographic reason behind the low ranking of Utah is that the state has far more students per taxpaying worker than any other state, caused in part by Utah's top-in-the-nation fertility rate and large family size.

University of Utah research economist Pam Perlich said Utah has about 35.8 school-age children per 100 "working age" people — nearly a third higher than the national average, according to census estimates. Idaho also has the second-highest students-per-worker ratio.

Newton said educators from others states marvel at how Utah is able to get by on such limited funding. The simple answer, he said, is that they have no other option.

"In public education, you can't say, 'I'm sorry, you can't come to school this year,' " he said. "Not having the money is not an excuse. … Over time, I think school districts and educators in Utah have learned to do more with less, and to work harder and smarter because they have to. There's no other choice."

School districts cope through a number of methods, such as hiring uncertified employees to man their libraries, and relying on aides who receive on-the-job training. This year, at least eight districts will be cutting back on their instructional days, and in districts throughout the state, portable classrooms are used as a means of accommodating population surges and staving off building projects until funding is available.