Utah dead last in per-pupil spending — again

The fact Utah is last in the nation again for per pupil spending has parents wanting answers and educators feeling disheartened.

"It's kind of sad we don't have more," said Glenda Adams, a third-grade teacher at South Jordan Elementary School.

Parent Angela Buehner, whose children attend South Jordan Elementary, said, "We need to get the people who can make a difference to do something about this."

Utah is dead last among the states — by a mile — in spending per student for elementary and secondary education, according to a new Census Bureau report for the 2006-07 school year.

That is not a surprise. Utah has that notoriety every year, thanks largely to having more children per family than any other state. That means each wage earner supports more school children than any other state. Also, Utah's political culture tends to fight increases in taxes, even for education.

Utah spent $5,683 per pupil in 2006-07, Census estimates said. The next lowest state was Idaho at $6,625 — which was still $942 per student more than in Utah.

The average nationally was $9,666 per student, or 70 percent higher than in Utah.

New York spends the most per student: $15,981, or almost three times more than in Utah.

Larry Newton, school finance director for the State Office of Education, said Utah has been last in the nation for per pupil spending for as long as he can remember. And he has worked at the State Office for 25 years. "It's the number of children in relation to the number of adults," Newton said. "I don't see a way out of it."

Buehner added, even though Utah is low in per pupil spending, schools seem to be making the best of the situation with caring principals and teachers, as well as parent volunteers.

Paul Bergera, South Jordan Elementary principal, said, "We do the best we can with the resources we have."

However, educators and researchers say Utah may be playing with fire by skimping on school budgets.

University of Utah research economist Pam Perlich said Utah might have been able to get away in the past with not applying as many resources because of the "homogenous population and high parental involvement." However, the new (and skyrocketing minority) populations are not in a position to help their kids that way. The system may not have the resources to handle all this diversity, she said.

Perlich added, "I think people need to understand we can't keep on the way we've been doing."