The Utah Taxpayers Association is concerned with the proposal put forward today by the Our Schools Now initiative.
Utah taxpayers already provide more than $4 billion annually to our public education system, and an increase of this magnitude without a sound, detailed proposal to help Utah’s students achieve the best outcomes will not be the most effective utilization of taxpayer dollars.
The tax increase proposal fails to give any specifics to improve student performance. Before any additional taxpayer money is put into education, via a ballot initiative to increase tax rates, a statewide plan should be put in place that will fix the inequities among Utah’s rich districts and poor districts and also bring innovation to our classrooms.
To ask taxpayers for additional money without this type of comprehensive plan in place, and say, ‘trust us’ with such a significant amount of increased money is dangerous. More controls need to be in place to ensure that desired student outcomes are achieved and that all Utah students receive a quality education.