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Show At the other end of the seal.) ( , we find North Carolina .89 , j, ji South Carolina 1.08 and Uta ' ,: 1.47. In these states, taxpa ! . ers have mighty little help. i. Utah Schools Rank Near Top; S78 Million Spent for Housing the nation and is double the national na-tional average. Utah's median of years of school attendance for those over 25 years of age is also the highest in the country coun-try with 12 years compared with 9.3 years for the country as a whole. There are 3,809,364 (1952) pupils enrolled in private schools of the nation. This is over 12 of the total enrollment enroll-ment of 30,372,027. In 7 states more than 21 of the total enrolled en-rolled in private schools. Rhode Island leads with 28, New York 24, Massachusetts 23, etc. 22 above the national average aver-age of 24.6, according to the Statistical Abstract. Records show a tendency to level off around 25,000 per year but this figure Is double the 12,949 born in 1930. These children are the raw material out of which school enrollments are made. A continued high birth rate results in a high ratio of children child-ren to adults. According to "Federal Responsibility in the Field of Education" in the 1952 ratio of children to 100 adults in Utah was 76.3 the fourth highest in the nation. This is 34 above the national average of 55.9. New Mexico is highest with 80.3 and New York low with 44.1. Higher education is also important. im-portant. This is particularly true in Utah where over 22,000 pupils were in colleges and universities uni-versities the highest ratio in Utah Schools have generally ranked at or near the top. The people of the state have manifested mani-fested their determination to have good schools and have sacrificed sac-rificed greatly to fulfill this desire. de-sire. Few states have had more problems and few states have solved them more wisely. School problems have been with us always but this is particularly par-ticularly true right now. It is well that all understand what is going on. The Legislature raised the combined basic and supplemental program from $4,-536 $4,-536 to $5,378 per distribution unit or 18. This will cost us a great deal nearly $9,000,000 additional money. One district is considering a 9-mill levy or a 25 jump in her property tax levy. This is in addition to the increases to be made by the state. Utah's teachers are somewhat better trained than the average, according to the N. E. A. In 1953-54, only 26 of teachers had less than four years preparation prepar-ation as compared with 31.8 in the nation as a whole. Sixteen Six-teen states ranked higher. All states are increasing expenditures ex-penditures so fast that even last years figures are obsolete. This is the case in Utah. Next year, costs will be from 17 to 20 higher than this year. Over the years, few states have made greater effort than Utah, according to ability, and few have received greater value for the dollars spent. While the birthrate shows indications in-dications of leveling off, school attendance figures will increase for some time to come. From 1948 to 1957, atendance jumped from 132,571 to 188,000 or an annual average of 5,500. This is only part of the story. While there has been an over-all increase, in-crease, wide areas of the state (18 districts) have suffered losses. In addition, substantial shifts within a given district have further aggravated the problems. Utah has done wonderfully well in the matter of housing. During the past 5 years, $78,-000,000 $78,-000,000 has been spent for capital capi-tal outlay. Starting from scratch and allowing $1,000 per pupil, this would house 40 of the total enrollment. Further large building programs are in progress. Utah has demonstrated demonstrat-ed her ability to provide for her own school building needs. One indicatin of Utah school accomplishment is the small ration ra-tion of selective service failures in the AFT tests in 1953. Utah's ratio of 2.6 was only one-sixth of the national average rate of 16.5 Minnesota alone has a lower ratio. Utah's birth rate of 32.1 per 1,000 population is exceeded by New Mexico alone (32. ) and is |
