Dipping into School Trust Lands Funds

The School Trust Lands of Utah in the past decade have become a growing source of education revenue. The lands themselves bring annual payments in the form of dividends that by the State Constitution must go directly to the school districts. The Trust is similar to a savings account; the earnings can be compared to the interest from that account and are what is sent to the school districts. Members of your School Community Council decide how your share of the Trust Lands money is spent for your school. The Legislature cannot control how the earnings are spent nor can they spend down the Trust. It is essential that we preserve the Trust and maintain the local control of the Trust Lands’ earnings.

HB269 creates a commission on Civic and Character Education to lead out on a focus on civic and character education in public schools. Civics is already part of the core curriculum in public schools and there are already many programs of character education in our local schools. However, HB269 requires that this commission and the program they create are paid for with 1% of the Trust Lands dividend funds annually. There may be a constitutional challenge to this bill but regardless of any challenge, I stand opposed to the legislature taking even 1% of the Trust Lands funds that go directly to the schools. In addition, a mandate for a statewide curriculum change should come from the State Office of Education and not be written into state law.