State of School address highlights success, funding woes

SALT LAKE CITY  — The state superintendent of public schools is calling on the governor and other Utah lawmakers to throw their political might and checkbook behind education — outlining a host of budget priorities that include funding all-day kindergarten and new investments in technology.

Larry K. Shumway delivered the annual "State of Education" address Tuesday night to listeners at Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Salt Lake City.

His speech was punctuated with comments on the stellar success Utah schools have achieved, but alternately included the challenge that the state's claim to valuing children does not match up with the reality of dollars spent.

"We are at a critical juncture in Utah's public schools," he said. "According to the Utah Foundation, the effort we are making to fund our schools has fallen dramatically over the last 20 years."

Shumway pointed to a foundation statistic: Utahns in 2011 are committing 20 percent less of their personal income to education than in 1992.

"I find this difficult to understand, in a state where we speak so ardently about our commitment to families and children. According to the foundation's analysis, our effort places Utah in the bottom half of the fifty states. Our effort, our willingness to invest, doesn't match the claim of valuing children or commitment to their futures."

This year, he said, Utah will spend approximately $3.8 billion for public schools from federal, state and local coffers.

"This may sound like a lot, but at about $6,500 per student, our state has the lowest cost per student in the nation," he said.

Shumway said the State Board of Education has made the extension of funding for early intervention programs — such as all-day kindergarten — one of its top priorities. He added that the single-year appropriation of $7.5 million serves just 8,000 students — or less than 20 percent of current enrollment.

In the technology arena, Shumway said the board is proposing a plan for new local and state spending of $30 million per year intended to primarily support online assessments for students, further bolstering distance and online learning programs as well as online testing.

While in 2010 the state experienced its record high number of eligible students taking the ACT at 73 percent, Shumway said "we will settle for nothing less than 100 percent."