All Utah public school teachers will get a raise next school year, state leaders announce

Utah teachers are getting a $1,400 raise, Gov. Spencer Cox announced Friday, telling public school educators, “We see you. We recognize you.”

Cox and other GOP leaders shared the announcement early Friday during a news conference at the Capitol. They also announced a one-time $1,000 bonus for support staff.

In total, Utah’s top lawmakers say they will set aside $100 million from the state’s budget for those support staff bonuses and teacher compensation changes. The $1,400 raise is a permanent salary increase and will go into effect July 1.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox, center, shakes hands with Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, during a news conference at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, announcing an increase in teacher salaries in the state.

The additional funding will raise teacher starting pay in the state to between $60,000 to $65,000, the highest in the Mountain West, Cox said.

“I’m just so proud of the good people who are out there doing this work, day in and day out,” Cox said.

Officials also announced other investments in public education, including pledging $77.7 million to support professional development for educators and $14.3 million for teaching supplies and materials.

And they assured a 4% increase in the state’s “Weighted Pupil Unit” (WPU), which is the minimum dollar amount that the state must ensure is allocated per each student enrolled. The bump amounts to a $178 million increase.

The move comes on the heels of Cox signing a bill that effectively banned public-sector employees — including teachers, police and firefighters — from collectively bargaining with agencies.

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Those opposed to that bill, HB267, included the state’s largest teachers union, which argued that nullifying public unions’ collective bargaining rights would hurt worker pay and compromise essential public services.

Lawmakers have contended that the state has continued to increase teacher pay and public education funding “in spite of” union efforts, as Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, put it earlier this month.

“No other state in the nation has done more for teacher compensation than we’ve done,” Adams said Friday.

As HB267 worked through the Legislature, public unions mobilized en masse, with thousands filling the Capitol over the course of about two weeks in protest and many flooding lawmaker inboxes with emails decrying the measure.

When state legislators passed the bill, hundreds filled the Capitol rotunda calling on Cox to veto it. He signed it into law on Feb. 14.

Union leaders have said they would explore a citizen referendum if Cox signed the bill. That would require gathering more than 140,000 signatures in 40 days to put the issue before voters on the 2026 ballot. If they gather enough signatures, the law would be put on hold until voters decide.

Christy Giblon, president of the Provo Education Association, said that while she appreciates the pay increase, she sees it as a “panic response” to the potential referendum and a potential boycott of Utah first lady Abby Cox’s annual “Show Up For Teachers” summer conference.

“After the governor signed the anti-union bill, teachers have responded very vocally online that they don’t intend to go to that event, that they don’t see the governor as being a supporter of education,” Giblon said.

Cox said the decision to increase teacher pay isn’t intended to squash a referendum effort.

“This is the right thing to do,” Cox said about the pay increase. “If there is a referendum, the people in the state of Utah will get to decide if that’s a good thing or not.”

Utah leaders say they value education

Utah’s GOP leaders pushed back several times Friday against assertions that the Legislature doesn’t adequately value education.

“There’s a narrative out there being pushed by a small group of people … that the Legislature doesn’t like our teachers, and that we don’t value education,” House Speaker Mike Schultz said. “That is simply not true. … We put more of our state budget toward education than almost any other state out there.”

Lawmakers also touted expanding paid maternity leave, professional planning time and paid student teaching.

“We’ve made historic investments in education and worked hard to make teaching a more desirable career,” Schultz said.

In a statement released shortly after the news conference, the Utah Education Association argued those assurances amounted to “political posturing.”

“Today, state leaders took credit for policies that educators fought for, not politicians,” the statement said. “Paid maternity leave, professional planning time, and paid student teaching were all championed by members of the Utah Education Association, not handed down by lawmakers.”

“Meanwhile,” the statement continued, “these same politicians pushed through a union-busting bill designed to silence educator voices, ignoring thousands of pleas from Utahns who demanded the protection of teachers’ collective bargaining rights.”

The teachers union acknowledged the pay increases, stating that while it’s an important step forward, “Utah’s public schools remain underfunded, classrooms are overcrowded, and educators are struggling under the weight of unsustainable workloads.”

For over two decades, Utah ranked last in the nation for its per-student spending, including Washington, D.C. That changed in 2021, when Utah slightly outspent Idaho to claim the No. 50 spot.

Utah currently maintains its second-to-last position, according to the latest rankings released last year, which were based on financial figures from 2021, the most recently available nationally. Utah at the time allocated roughly $9,095 per student, about a third of New York’s $26,571, which claimed the top spot.

The primary way the state funds K-12 public education is through its Minimum School Program (MSP). That program ensures that all schools receive a baseline level of funding, regardless of local wealth, by combining state and local tax revenues.

Through that program, the state each year sets a “Weighted Pupil Unit” (WPU) — set at around $4,000 as a minimum amount for this school year. Each school’s funding varies based on the number of students they serve, with adjustments for factors like grade level and special education needs.

While total per-student spending has steadily increased since 2010, education spending as a percentage of personal income has declined from 5.1% in 2002 (16th-highest in the nation) to 3.5% in 2022, placing Utah 40th among other states, according to a report by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

“The members of the Utah Education Association will continue to fight for the resources, respect, and real solutions our students and educators deserve,” UEA’s statement Friday concluded.