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Show Cost Of Public Schools In Utah Reaches An All Time High Utah public schools will have total revenues of $26 million for all .purposes for the 1947-48 school year, an increase of 22 per cent, compared with 1946-47, according to a research report issued today by Utah Foundation, non-profit, tax-research organization. organi-zation. Comparable revenues were $21.4 million in 1946-47, and $18 million in 1945-46. The report, titled "Utah Public Pub-lic School Finances For the 1947-48 School Year," shows that, under the revised financing finan-cing program, current operating revenues of $22.7 million will exceed by $5 million the operating oper-ating costs of the 1946-47 school year. More than a year ago the people of Utah by an overwhelming overwhelm-ing majority approved amendments amend-ments to the State Constitution empowering the 1847 Legislature Legisla-ture to revise tho method of fi- nancing public schools. The Legislature formulated a mini mum program to be guaranteed to all districts by support from state'funds, with costs above the minimum program to be financed by local taxes. The Utah Foundation Foun-dation report is a factual analysis anal-ysis of the cost of the new program. pro-gram. It states that .all Utah school districts will, exceed the prescribed minimum and says that tax rates will be higher for 1947 in every district of the state. I According to the report, the I major factor in the increased cost will be the general increases increas-es in salary scales for teachers. Twenty-nine of the forty school districts for which data are I available show increases in in structional budgets, for 1947-48, of 33.3 per cent "compared with costs for the 1946-47 schoql year. Instruction cpsts are the largest item in the public school budget, accounting for 59 per cent of total school costs in the 1945-46 school year. Instruction costs include educational supplies sup-plies as well as salaries of teachers teach-ers and supervisors. Salaries, however, make up more than 90 per cent of instructional costs. Other pertinent highlights included in-cluded in the report are; "Property taxes levied for public school purposes, including capital outlay and bond interest and retirement, will exceed S18V million, compared with $12V million levied in 1940, an increase of $614 million or slightly more than 50 per cent. "State funds will contribute 61.4 per eept of the prescribed minimum program, or 47.3 per cent of the total school program for the 1947-48 school year. |