Utah Education Funding Study
Prepared for the Utah State Board of Education in 2021
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) partnered with Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates (APA) and WestEd to prepare a study to evaluate the current K–12 funding system and to determine the extent to which funding formulas meet their intended purposes, particularly with respect to ensuring “reasonably equal educational opportunities for all children” (Utah Code Annotated § 53F-2-103).
This study is the culmination of two phases:
Phase 1 examined the alignment between Utah’s vision for students and the Minimum School Program (MSP), as defined by statute, as well as the extent to which the current MSP meets the principle of reasonably equal opportunities for all students.
Phase 2 examines costs and resource allocation through a variety of methods, with an emphasis on equal educational opportunity. Methods include quantitative analyses of student and fiscal data, as well as an examination of successful school sites through a case study process.
Given current funding levels, the following recommendations were provided to address discrepancies between current funding and intended purposes:
Increase the Basic Property Tax Levy to rebalance the defined local share of the Basic School Program and minimize the fiscal impact of system improvements to funding distribution.
Establish an add-on Weighted Pupil Unit for economically disadvantaged students in the Basic School Program, replacing existing programs targeted to these students.
Reform the Necessarily Existent Small Schools adjustment in the Basic School Program, drawing on study findings, to expand the scope and size of the funding, primarily to address issues of scale.
Establish within the Basic School Program an adjustment for regional variation in the price of teacher labor, based on study findings.
Reexamine the Related to Basic programs to optimize coherence, stability, continuous improvement, and balance with Basic School Program funds.
Establish a competitive grant focused on supporting schools to develop effective processes within two key strategic areas.