Utah doing OK academically, according to national data

While Utah doesn't have a lot of money to spend on students, the state is still doing fairly well academically, according to national data released Thursday.

The 2010 Quality Counts report by Education Week magazine examines each state in several categories ranging from college preparation to per-pupil spending.

Maryland topped the nation overall while most states, including Utah, scored a C.

"That's fairly good news, in a system that struggles financially," said Mark Peterson, spokesman for the Utah State Office of Education.

The nation, as a whole, received a C. Education Week's report is produced by a non-profit organization in Bethesda, Md. called Editorial Projects in Education.

States are judged on school finances in two categories: equity and spending. "Equity" is how the state distributes its funding regardless of school district area and "spending" is how much the state doles out per pupil.

Utah received an "A-minus" in equity but an "F" in spending. Utah spent $6,228 per pupil compared to the national average of $10,557, according to the latest data available, 2007. This makes the state dead last in the nation for per-pupil spending.

The reason is a high number of students and a lack of revenue generated to support them.

Utah has an abundance of school-age children. At the same time, Utah is one of many western states that has a lot of federal land such as parks and forests. The more federal land, the less opportunity to generate property taxes, said Todd Hauber, State Office of Education associate superintendent of business services.

The Utah income tax is the primary source of funding for public education. As Peterson points out, Utah has a low income base overall. That's primarily due to the large number of children, which reduces the per family income average and a large retired population that draws lower than average family incomes.

However, Utah does well at equalizing funds between extremely rich and poor school districts, because it does not rely entirely on property taxes for public education funding, unlike some states. "We do spread our money equitably," Peterson said.

According to the report, while some states aren't perfect, they are at least trying to improve. States are looking beyond their borders when developing and revising their academic standards.

"For guidance and inspiration, the most common source states look to are national organizations," said Christopher B. Swanson, vice president of Editorial Projects in Education.

Half of the states examined frameworks of other states when developing their own standards. Few looked internationally, Swanson said.

The states others look to most include California, Indiana and Massachusetts.

On the Web:

Go to edweek.org/ew/toc/2010/01/14/index.html to view the entire report and state-by-state data.

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