As an educator, I feel anxious as the general legislative session approaches.
Public education is the foundation of our democracy, a truth championed by Horace Mann, the father of public education. Mann envisioned schools as “the great equalizer,” ensuring every child, regardless of background, received an education. He is said to have ridden his horse from town to town promoting the “common school” because he knew it would strengthen our nation.
Yet today, Utah’s public schools are being undermined by decisions that prioritize private and homeschooling efforts over the democratic ideals Mann fought to promote.
In 2023-2024, $80 million in taxpayer money, originally set aside for public education, was reallocated to fund private and homeschooling programs — without transparency or accountability.
I have no complaints against parents who choose to educate their children in private schools or at home. I have plenty of friends who do both, and I have seen their children excel academically and otherwise. What I disagree with is using tax money to fund home schools or private schools, particularly because there is a lack of transparency and accountability regarding how those funds are used to educate children. This undermines the principles of democracy.
Unlike traditional public schools, which are required to take state tests or monitor student progress, homeschoolers or private schools have no such reporting to the state. How can we assess if meaningful learning is taking place? If we demand it from public schools, why not also homeschoolers and private schools that accept tax money?
Aside from funding unaccountable private schools, some reports have shown that homeschoolers are using their scholarship funds to purchase gym memberships, high-end computers or horse-riding lessons.
As I explained this to a friend of mine who teaches in a Title 1 school, I could see her heart sink, as she contemplated her own students being overlooked. Teachers like her are using their own paychecks to pay for basic school supplies like pencils, dry-erase markers or snacks to give to kids who face food insecurities at home.
The counter-argument, some would say, is that public education is riddled with its own flaws, and I know parents who pulled their kids out due to unmet needs. Admittedly, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach. But I can’t imagine how refusing to appropriately fund public schools in Utah is a step towards improving the current situation.
Eighty million dollars directly given to public schools could have allowed districts to lower class sizes by hiring more teachers. Additionally, paying teachers more would also incentivize great teachers to stay in their profession. Utah teachers make an average of $63,481, which is $6,000 less than the national average. Recently, federal funds to help support schools recover from learning gaps because of COVID were pulled back at the beginning of this school year. The shift was not unexpected, as districts had been anticipating it.
The principal at my kids’ school told me she would need an additional $30,000 to keep the additional staff that had such a meaningful role in supporting reading goals and extra support for students at the school. She held a fundraiser in an attempt to keep her staff and the accomplishments they were achieving. As I watched the promotion of this fundraiser unfold, I was angry that the Utah Legislature had neglected to take steps to offset the rollback of federal financial support to schools in this state. The principal didn’t even make half of what she had advocated for in her fundraiser.
That $30,000 dollars is a small fraction of $80 million. There are 945 public schools in Utah. If distributed evenly, each school could have received $84,656. That’s almost triple what the principal was hoping to raise.
It’s frustrating that, while the principal worked to raise $30,000 for her students and staff, the Utah Legislature, months earlier, had already planned to allocate millions more to the Utah Fits All Scholarship — a program lacking transparency and accountability.
What additional support could $84,656 given to your neighborhood school? Money awarded to public schools would have receipts to show how taxpayer money was being effectively used to better our democracy, in the form of public education.
I believe in accountability and transparency in government, and I thought our elected officials did too. I urge you to write to your representatives expressing your disapproval of such measures to fund — without transparency and accountability — programs that do not support our democracy.
The Utah Fits All Scholarship undermines democracy, and supporting such measures is a disservice to the public. I’m upset as a taxpayer and as an education advocate.
I want to invite the Utah Legislature to support democracy by better funding public education.
Rhiannon Longstaff is an educator and an avid school volunteer.
Rhiannon Longstaff has a master’s degree in education from the University of Utah, is a current educator and an avid school volunteer.
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