It's time to invest in education.

• Author: Francom, Sarah Ryther
• Position: From the Editor

Education is consistently ranked as one of Utah's top priorities among citizens, business leaders and policymakers, as it should be. The state's economic vitality is only as strong as its workforce--and tomorrow's workforce is sitting in today's overburdened and underfunded classrooms. Though poll after poll ranks education as the No. 1 priority, actions speak louder than words.

A June 2011 report published by the Utah Foundation, a nonprofit organization that researches public policy issues in the state, found that Utah has experienced a "downward trend in [education] funding." The report goes as far to call this downward trend "unprecedented."

According to the report, the state's per-pupil spending on K-12 public education has been the lowest in the nation since 1988. Reaching the national average would a require $2.2 billion investment.

It is often argued that Utah's low per-pupil spending is due to the state's unique demographics--our birthrate is high and our population is the nation's youngest. While our unique population is indeed a challenge, it is not the sole problem. As the report demonstrates, the state's effort to fund education has been in steady decline since the mid-1990s.

A variety of factors have impacted Utah's education funding. For example, in 1996 voters approved an amendment to permit income tax revenues--which in the past were exclusively devoted to K-12 public ed--to be shared with higher education institutions. This change...