Legislature increases educ. budget
The Utah Legislature’s decision to allocate $460 million to education in the coming year is “a huge down payment on an overdue bill,” one USU education professor said.
“It was a great year for education,” said D. Ray Reutzel, director and endowed chair of USU’s Emma Eccles Jones Center for Early Childhood Education.
The Legislature’s decision to give all teachers a $2,500 raise and one-time $1,000 bonus will mean an 8 to 10 percent pay increase for most teachers, Reutzel said. It will not be enough alone to curb Utah’s teacher shortage, Reutzel said, but he hopes this year will mark the beginning of a trend. The move shows that the Legislature “got the message” that many people think education in the state is underfunded, he said.
This year’s increase in funding will probably bring Utah out of last place among states in education funding, Reutzel said.
In addition to the $460 million going toward public education, $68.4 million will go to higher education, with more than $19 million being used on projects benefiting USU, said USU Vice Provost Ronda Menlove. Menlove, a member of the Utah House of Representatives, said higher education employees will receive a 3.5 percent pay increase, with the possibility of earning 1.5 percent more based on merit.
Also approved was an appropriation of more money for T.H. Bell loans. A T.H. Bell loan pays the tuition and fees of a student attending a teacher education program in Utah. Each year a loan recipient teaches at a school in Utah after graduating results in one year’s worth of loan debt being repaid.
Menlove, who is a former high school teacher and administrator, served on the House Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which played a role in determining the money to be spent on education.
Also approved was a bill putting nearly $5 million toward new degree programs being developed at USU’s regional campuses around the state and in partnerships with other universities. The budget also allows $2.5 million for the planning of a new Agricultural Science Building at USU.
The increase in education spending comes largely because of a massive state budget surplus this year, Menlove said. Half of the surplus was given to education, she said.