Key Legislation

• HB 308 (Welton) School Grading
  Eliminates school letter grades.
• HB 477 (Spendlove) Full-day Kindergarten
  Makes full-day kindergarten available for all LEAs with an option for half-day kindergarten.
• SB 55 (Fillmore) Public School Instructional Materials Requirements
  If an LEA board is going to adopt learning material, then the LEA board is required to use a traditional public process. Requires an LEA board to adopt a policy of their choosing for materials teachers use that haven’t been adopted or approved by the LEA open process.
• SB 65 (Fillmore) Charter School Authorizer Modifications
  Requires certain charter school authorizers to use procedures akin to those under the Administrative Rulemaking Act when adopting standards, guidelines, or policy; permits private institutions of higher education to become authorizers.
• SB 183 (Vickers) Educator Salary Amendments
  Ties the size of the educator salary adjustments to increases in the WPU.
• SJR10 (McCay) Education Earmarks
  Removes the constitutional earmark on income tax and provides statutory public education funding framework.

Bills of Note

• HB 16 (Pulsipher) Block Grant Funding for Prevention Programs in Public Education
  Combines several line item funding streams into a single block grant funding stream.
• HB 421 (Moss) School Land Trust Program Amendments
  Increases the maximum School Land Trust disbursement from 4% to 5%.
• HB 489 (Moss) Educator Paid Professional Hours
  Permits LEAs to use these dollars for teachers who begin teaching after the school year begins, on a prorated basis.
• HB 494 (Pulsipher) Education Reporting Amendments
  Repeals a textbook disposal report.
• SB 44 (Millner) Reading Software Amendments
  Permits LEAs to use reading software that do not meet the statistical effect size specified in last year’s SB 127.
• HB 215 (Pierucci) Funding for Teacher Salaries and Optional Educational Opportunities
  Increases teacher salaries $4,200 + benefits. Establishes Utah Fits All Scholarship.

Summary

The state budget for 2024 stands at $29.4 billion. Public education funding for 2024 received $7.5 billion. $233.1 million appropriated increases the WPU by 6% this year. $196.9 million is applied to ongoing teacher salary increases ($4,200 for salary plus employee-paid benefits) which effectually adds 5% to the WPU. Another 1% effective increase comes from $25.8 million that fully-funds all-day kindergarten for schools that want to provide it; half-day is still an option. $25.1 million goes to at-risk students, adding another 1% to the WPU. The legislature has maintained $64 million funding for paid professional development. Please be sure to plan with your teachers this additional 32 hours of pay.

We were able to correct an administrative cost gap for the largest charter schools and maintain funding support that is comparable to what small districts receive. A constitutional amendment (SJR10) will go before voters to allow income tax revenue to support public education first, but then be open to fund other state needs. As we move forward, please note that 35% of your state restricted funds are flexible for use in your innovative programs.