Historical public education information in Utah, 2009-2015

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

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Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on Utah's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view Utah's public education page.

The Utah public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 Utah had 598,832 students enrolled in a total of 1,020 schools in 126 school districts. There were 25,970 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 23 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 450 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average Utah spent $6,212 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 51st highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 80 percent in 2012.

State agencies

See also: Utah Department of Education

The Utah State Office of Education is led by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is appointed by the Utah State Board of Education and serves at the board's pleasure. As of June 2015, the officeholder for this position was Brad C. Smith. His predecessor was Martell Menlove.

The mission statement of the Utah State Board of Education reads:

“

Utah’s Public Education System keeps its constitutional promise by: Ensuring literacy and numeracy for all Utah children. Providing high quality instruction for all Utah children. Establishing curriculum with high standards and relevance for all Utah children. Requiring effective assessment to inform high quality instruction and accountability.

”

The State Board of Education is responsible for the "general control and supervision of the public education system." The board is composed of 15 elected, voting members and six appointed, non-voting members.

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Utah compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
Utah	1,020	126	598,832	25,970	1:23.1	1:450.2	$6,212
Arizona	2,252	662	1,080,319	50,800	1:21.3	1:419.5	$7,666
Colorado	1,813	259	854,265	48,078	1:17.8	1:301.9	$8,724
Nevada	649	18	439,634	21,132	1:20.8	1:449.7	$8,527
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	1:16	1:295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in Utah as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for Utah's K-12 public school system, 2011-2012
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	7,436	1.24%	1.10%
Asian	10,612	1.77%	4.68%
African American	7,967	1.33%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	9,024	1.51%	0.42%
Hispanic	91,722	15.32%	24.37%
White	463,938	77.47%	51.21%
Two or more	8,133	1.36%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

A majority of students in Utah attended suburban schools during school year 2011-2012. More than 67 percent of the state's students attended city or suburban schools, compared to approximately 33 percent who attended rural or town schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural schools
Utah	16.5%	50.9%	12.9%	19.7%
Arizona	48.5%	16.3%	10%	25.2%
Colorado	33.3%	32.6%	10.3%	23.8%
Nevada	38.5%	32%	6.6%	22.9%
U.S. average	28.9%	34%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada), Utah had the second highest share of fourth and eighth grade students who scored at or above proficient in both math and reading in school year 2012-2013.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Utah	44%	36%	37%	39%
Arizona	40%	31%	28%	28%
Colorado	50%	42%	41%	40%
Nevada	34%	28%	27%	30%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state

See also: ACT and SAT scores in the U.S.

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Utah and surrounding states for 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Utah	80%	Third	20.7	97%	1,684	6%
Arizona	76%	Fourth	19.7	35%	1,551	35%
Colorado	75%	Fourth	20.6	100%	1,721	14%
Nevada	63%	Fifth	21.3	34%	1,454	48%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Utah was lower than the national average at 1.5 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 1.5 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in Utah

As of June 2015, school choice options in Utah included: charter schools, a school voucher program, inter-district and intra-district open enrollment policies and online learning programs. In addition, about 2.91 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-2012 academic year, and an estimated 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-2013.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: Utah state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Utah spent approximately 24.7 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this was up 1.50 percentage points, or 6.5 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 23.2 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
Utah	24.7%	$6,212	12.02%	51.19%	36.79%
Arizona	19%	$7,666	14.69%	41.22%	44.09%
Colorado	25.3%	$8,724	11.18%	40.41%	48.41%
Nevada	23.6%	$8,527	10.68%	33.09%	56.24%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in Utah totaled approximately $4.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for Utah and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
Utah	$519,547	$2,211,870	$1,589,706	$4,321,123
Arizona	$1,367,644	$3,839,130	$4,105,899	$9,312,673
Colorado	$979,904	$3,543,208	$4,245,132	$8,768,244
Nevada	$447,888	$1,388,154	$2,359,519	$4,195,561
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=650x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Federal revenue,State revenue,Local revenue Utah,12.02,51.19,36.79 Arizona,14.69,41.22,44.09 Colorado,11.18,40.41,48.41 Nevada,10.68,33.09,56.24 U.S. total,12.34,44.09,43.56 </pbars>

Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in Utah totaled approximately $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for Utah and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
Utah	$3,600,074	$693,458	$234,361	$4,527,893
Arizona	$8,157,006	$796,052	$634,413	$9,587,471
Colorado	$7,338,499	$836,045	$521,460	$8,696,004
Nevada	$3,712,313	$324,287	$270,077	$4,306,677
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=400x200 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Current expenditures,Capital outlay,Other Utah,79.51,15.32,5.18 Arizona,85.08,8.30,6.62 Colorado,84.39,9.61,6.00 Nevada,86.20,7.53,6.27 U.S. total,86.31,8.78,4.90 </pbars>

Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Utah, the average salary increased by 3.4 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
Utah	$47,757	$48,980	$48,961	$49,393	3.4%
Arizona	$50,430	$50,119	$49,501	$49,885	-1.1%
Colorado	$52,153	$52,520	$49,865	$49,844	-4.4%
Nevada	$53,830	$54,999	$55,467	$55,957	4%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Utah ranked 39th overall, or "weak," which was in the fourth of five tiers.

In 2006, some union members decided to depart from the Utah Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, to develop the Utah Council of Educators. The council, however, is not a union and does not participate in collective bargaining. Both organizations are in favor of reducing class sizes and raising teacher salaries. The two organizations do, however, differ in their attitudes towards school vouchers. The Utah Education Association spent more than $3 million in the fight against vouchers in 2007. The Utah Council of Educators, on the other hand, said that they would rather let the public decide.

Government sector lobbying

See also: Utah government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the Utah School Boards Association.

Transparency

In 2008, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 38. The bill required state government agencies to make certain financial information available online. Utah Public Finance went live on May 15, 2009.

In 2009, the legislature passed Senate Bill 18, which mandated that local government agencies (including school districts and charter schools) be held to the transparency standards established by Senate Bill 38 (2008).

Both SB 38 and SB 18 were spearheaded by Sen. Wayne Niederhauser.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in Utah
• Utah
• Education Policy in the U.S.