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Utah beat out Idaho in per-student for fiscal year 2019, finally lifting itself out of last place.
Utah is
no longer last in the country in per-student funding, according to the latest census data on public education funding. The state spent $8,014 per student for fiscal year 2019, barely nudging past its long-running rival Idaho. The national average was $13,197.
Since the data lags two years behind, it does not account for the significant increase in education funding lawmakers passed earlier this year. That could have a further positive impact on the state’s ranking, said Matthew Weinstein, fiscal policy director of the advocacy group Voices for Utah Children. But it’s also not likely to push the state’s trajectory out of the bottom ten nationally.
New revenue projections show Utah will have more than $1.5 billion in extra money to spend on next year's budget. Lawmakers have already spent more than $650 million on public education, and are now targeting infrastructure and tax cuts.