Lawmakers approve approximate 6% funding boost for public education

SALT LAKE CITY — One of the Utah Legislature's primary tasks each year is, of course, to fund the state's K-12 public schools.

The majority of costs required to educate almost 650,000 Utah school kids comes from state taxpayer dollars. So obviously, it's a weighty lift each session — particularly during lean years.

In finalizing this year's 2026-2027 public education budget, Utah lawmakers seemed to be following a "reallocation" impulse that defined last year's budget initiatives in the state's higher education system.

In 2025, Utah's eight degree granting institutions were required by the Legislature to reallocate 10% of their budget to instructional areas deemed to be of highest value to both students and Utah's economy.

That meant more dollars were redirected to fields such as health care and AI. But to accommodate those reallocations, there were also cuts to programs and jobs.

The "what-to-fund/what-to-cut" higher education decisions prompted mixed reviews. Now in 2026, lawmakers made funding decisions to build — and sometimes burn — in Utah's K-12 public schools.

And, no surprise, some on the Hill were pleased with the final budget. Others, not so much.

Budget bill sponsor: 'We are building futures'

Overall, K-12 public education in Utah will be receiving a pretty good "raise" in the upcoming fiscal year.

"The Legislature increased public education funding by 5.9% ($580-plus million) this year to help students succeed — because education is essential to improving lives, developing a skilled workforce and fostering innovation," Rep. Stephen Whyte, R-Mapleton, reported to the Deseret News during the closing days of the 2026 session.

The House chairman of the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Whyte co-sponsored both the public education base bill and the subsequent budget amendments bill approved during this year's session.

Utah's public education funding, Whyte added, "will help prepare the rising generation to lead with knowledge, integrity and innovation.

"We are not just funding schools, we are building futures."

Reductions found in the budget amendments bill, he added, amounted to less than 1%.

"These reductions are primarily affecting non-lapsing balances and moderate growing balances, along with some target adjustments to some select programs," said Whyte during his floor presentation to the House this week.

A few of this year's public education budget highlights:

• The foundational weighted pupil unit — that per-pupil unit that determines the base cost to educate a Utah K-12 student — was increased by 4.2%, equivalent to $191.4 million.
• An additional $14.3 million will go toward teacher supplies and materials.
• $16 million to support early literacy.
• $25 million for at-risk students — including additional weighted pupil unit funding for kids who come from economically disadvantaged families and those who are learning English.
• $35 million for Applied Professional Education Experience Centers.
• $13.9 million for various technology programs such as AP test prep.
• $5 million for "Grow Your Own Special Educators" to assist paraprofessionals to receive special education training.
• $2.5 million for reduced-priced school lunch.

"Even amid a tight budget year, legislators have remained committed to prioritizing public education, protecting critical programs and building on the significant investments already made in classrooms, teacher compensation and preparing Utah's rising generation for future success," said Whyte.

Anxieties over program cuts, teacher raises

During the Senate floor hearing discussing the public school budget, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, lamented program cuts that she said "are really concerning to our school districts."

She pointed to an $18.3 million cut to the Digital Teaching and Learning Program that's designed, in part, to enhance student access to technology.

That's a program supported by Utah school districts, said Riebe, before adding, "I wish that we could start listening to the things that our school districts wanted — instead of telling them what they needed."

Responding to Riebe's objection, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, noted that the Digital Training and Learning Program was initiated about a decade ago. "It was a very important program at that time because schools, working in the model they had, did not have excess funding for integration of technology."

But in the years since, he said, that's no longer an issue. Almost all Utah students have access to needed devices.

"That program served its purpose well — it integrated technology into schools," said Fillmore.

But in 2026, he added, the program no longer requires a dedicated funding stream because schools are prioritizing technological resources in their budgets. "If we can take that funding and reprioritize it in ways that schools are asking for, that is a win for schools and for students."

Both Riebe and some of her Democratic colleagues also voiced concerns that state-awarded educator annual raises would reportedly be dipping from 4% to 3%.

Such modifications, said Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Taylorsville, "would bring in some economic instability (because) teachers may not understand, from year-to-year, what their increase might be."

Budget bill cosponsor Sen. Heidi Balderree, R-Saratoga Springs, acknowledged that making cuts is difficult — but noted that Utah educators are still receiving an increase.

"We have the highest starting salary for a teacher range in our region, and I'm proud of that," she said. "We're not going backward."

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