The State of Education in Utah
The legislative session ends tonight at midnight, and where public education is concerned, things have not reached a satisfactory conclusion for all.
Gephardt Daily spoke with Michael T. Kelley, the Communications and Public Relations Director for the Utah Education Association, who talked about the UEA’s goals for the session.
[one_fourth]
[/one_fourth][three_fourth_last]
“For teachers we were obviously concerned with the fact that for the last six years the amount going toward education has declined,” Kelly said.
According to Kelly, the numbers have gone steadily downward since the beginning of the recession, and the public school system is still receiving approximately six percent less per student than they did in 2007.
“Because of that, we’ve seen class sizes go up, salaries reduced for school employees, programs have been cut, so it ultimately has hurt the students,” said Kelly.
“The Governor has proposed a budget for public education spending by allocating about $500 million,” Kelly explained, “And that would have included a six point two five increase in what’s called the weighted pupil unit.”
The UEA supported the legislation, but the legislature only authorized 420 million
“We supported the governor’s budget. unfitly the legislature only put in about 420 mill which leaves us in the hole,” Kelley explained.
Looking forward, Kelley said “We’ll continue to push as the governor I’m sure will for increased investment in public education.”
