The following priorities are critical to supporting Utah’s educator workforce and students who have faced the disruption and stress of two years of a pandemic. We urge the legislature to recognize educators as experts on public education issues and work collaboratively.
(View this document as a printable pdf)

Education Funding

After fulfilling statutory education funding requirements, address the following:

• Provide at least a 6.5% increase on the WPU (est. $292 million), for a total WPU increase of at least 10% including inflation and student enrollment growth.
• Increase Paid Professional Hours for all licensed educators (est. $80 million one-time).
• Enhance funding for students at-risk of academic failure by increasing weights on the At-Risk Student line item (est. $25 million).
• Expand optional full-day kindergarten.
• Oppose schemes that funnel funds intended for public education to personal student accounts or privately-run entities where taxpayer accountability is lost.
• (View the 2023 UEA Budget Priorities)

Quality Instruction and Student Equity

• Ensure each classroom has an effective teacher by funding strategies to identify and address the root causes of Utah’s critical educator shortage.
• Invest in programs that develop a pathway for diverse educators to the teaching profession, including in rural areas or hard-to-staff subjects and schools.
• Improve teacher retention through comprehensive educator induction and mentoring programs.
• Increase resources for school safety and student social and emotional well-being such as school psychologists, social workers and counselors.
• Reduce class sizes to allow teachers the time needed to reach and inspire individual students and meet every student’s unique learning needs are met.
• Promote student attendance and family supports to ensure a strong sense of belonging and improve student academic outcomes.
• Value educators as trusted professionals to develop instructional materials based on adopted Utah core standards and local district policies.

Education Policy

• Eliminate the overuse of standardized testing and the misuse of student test scores to grade schools and impose consequences on schools.
• Enact a moratorium on new mandated education initiatives to recognize the overwhelming workload and stress already heaped on Utah educators.
• Protect the constitutional mandate of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands (SITLA and SITFO) to safeguard the rights of beneficiaries, primarily Utah’s school children.