Will raising taxes make better students?

Will raising taxes make better students?

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SALT LAKE CITY — Will increased and equalized funding for Utah schools translate into better outcomes for students?

That question was at the heart of a discussion between lawmakers and educators during a Utah Taxpayers Association conference Thursday, taking time to examine what a $75 million property tax increase now means for schools and a new property tax that could come up in the next legislative session.

"We've made some good progress, but we have an ongoing challenge, because every year, that inequity problem continues," said South Jordan Republican Sen. Aaron Osmond, who sponsored this year's tax increase. "We have to have an ongoing solution for that problem."

As the second year of SAGE testing wraps up, and as student performance data accumulates in the coming years, educators will be closely watching for trends that bring the effectiveness of Utah's school funding policies to light.

"It's critical that we're committed to data-driven decision-making that is predicated on actual results we see from students in our classrooms, based on at least some level of commonality, so that we know what we're getting from all of that investment of funding," Brad Smith, state superintendent of public instruction, said.

SB97, which was signed into law this year, was the first time in almost 20 years Utah's property tax rate was adjusted. The bill raised the basic property tax rate to recapture money lost to inflation, generating $75 million in new revenue for schools.

Since charter schools don't have taxing authority, school districts must provide a portion of their tax revenues to fund charters, which are guaranteed the state's average per-pupil rate of $1,746. More than half of Utah's 41 school districts earned less than that for their own students, but SB97 brings all schools up to at least the same funding amount that charters receive.

Money reaches classroom

For the Alpine School District, the new tax revenue will mean a projected funding increase of about $17.8 million, according to Rob Smith, business administrator for the district. He said the new funds will have "significant impact" in handling a yearly growth rate of about 2,000 students.


We've made some good progress, but we have an ongoing challenge, because every year, that inequity problem continues. We have to have an ongoing solution for that problem.

–South Jordan Republican Sen. Aaron Osmond


Most of the money will go to operations costs. That includes hiring 54 new teachers to lower class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, Rob Smith said. It also includes investing $1.5 million in technology instruction programs in the classroom.

"That $1.5 million will help us reach more kids, reach kids better, have them more engaged," Rob Smith said. "Once their attachment increases, our research shows, achievement increases."

About one-fourth of the new funds will be allocated to capital expenses. Smith said it will advance the district's efforts to build facilities without incurring debt, an initiative that began for Alpine in 2005.

"We are building an elementary school every other year with cash," Rob Smith said. "This additional $7.5 million will enable us to continue that effort as well as decrease the needs for bonds over time, saving taxpayers significant dollars and interest expense."

Because the property tax rate doesn't automatically adjust with inflation, Osmond said next year he will propose earmarking up to 20 percent of the growth generated through the state's basic property tax and income tax for continued school equalization.

It wouldn't mean an increase in taxes, Osmond said.

"The concept is to continue this equalization effort," he said. "We've addressed most of the gap, but now we need to continue with it. I believe this is the best approach we can take."

New tax for charters?

SB97 was not the only equalization bill that passed this year. HB119 now requires school districts to pay a full 25 percent of local property tax revenues to a statewide fund, providing capital resources for both district and charter schools. Prior to the bill, districts could pay the lesser of two options: 25 percent of per-pupil local revenues, or 25 percent of charter schools students' average local revenues.

The bill evens out the tax burden among school districts, some of which have high tax burdens but low revenues. But it will require some districts to contribute as much as $500,000 in additional funds.

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Utah's charter school funding model continues to draw the criticism of lawmakers and educators, who question the ethics of requiring districts to fund students outside their purview.

For that reason, Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber, said he plans to propose a new property tax specifically for funding charter schools independently. The tax, he said, would be based on average school district revenues where charter students reside.

"Whatever that school district is raising in property tax for their own students, that's what the charter students who live in that district are going to get," Powell said. "But it's not taken from the school district monies. Instead, it's the dreaded word, it's a new tax."

Powell's proposal first arose on the last day of this year's legislative session in HB458, which failed to pass out of the House Rules Committee. But such a bill would allow charters to be funded independently, he said, and it would save money for districts having to give their own dollars to charter schools.

"What's not to like?" Powell said.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, is president of the Utah Taxpayers Association. This year, Stephenson backed Osmond's tax increase for equalization funding, even though the association opposed it. But a new tax for charter schools brought uniform disapproval Thursday.

"I don't support a new tax for charter schools," Stephenson said. "Property taxpayers are already paying to fund those students. Property taxpayers shouldn't have to pay twice for the same student."

Utah is widely and frequently criticized for being last in its per-pupil spending amount, even though its funding distribution model, the weighted pupil unit, is one of the most highly praised methods of student funding in the country.

But such rhetoric places too heavy a focus on system inputs, and not enough emphasis on student outcomes, according to Brad Smith.

"As we sit here today, thousands of students will be marching across graduation stages. … As they march across those stages, only one in four graduating seniors are fully prepared to succeed in college," Smith said, citing recent ACT statistics.

"Whatever we do about funding, whatever we do about taxes, whatever we do about everything else, we must galvanize action to say, 'That cannot, that will not stand,'" he said. "I would suggest, ladies and gentlemen, that the single most important change in public education can be effectuated immediately and it doesn't cost anything. And it is to have faith — faith that we can change this very complex system in a way that benefits our kids."

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Morgan Jacobsen

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