• Top education priorities among Utah parents appear to mostly align with the general population, but priorities vary between political party and gender.
• Subgroups having different values and priorities can be a positive reality because when various groups advocate for different issues, it may create a more well-rounded public education system, where important aspects don’t get overlooked.
• There is common ground among subgroups in what they consider among their highest priorities: retaining teachers through increased pay.
• There is a stark difference in opinion about the quality of public education between parents and teachers.

​The 2024 Election Day is less than a week away, which means many Utahns have already cast their votes. Hopefully, many more will soon.

With a variety of federal, state and local candidates, this election’s impact on education could vary widely. That’s why our new Y2 Analytics polling data dives into what Utahns care about most in education as they cast their ballots this year.

Here are some highlights.

Priorities among the general population and parents

Education issues that Utah’s general population said are their top priorities:

(1) Increasing teacher retention through increased pay

(2) Smaller class sizes for students

(3) Adequate amount of funding for students

(4) Modernizing curriculum to more adequately prepare students for the workforce

(5) Providing more personalized learning

Interestingly, the top priorities among Utah parents appear to align with the general population. Parents’ top priorities included the same issues except that parents included ensuring music and the arts receive adequate support rather than modernizing curriculum for the workforce.

From the perspective that parents are considered the main public education consumer – or the ones choosing to enroll their children in education – it appears that the general population may vote in ways that mostly reflect the consumers’ priorities.

Priorities vary more between political party and gender

Education priorities vary more when broken down by political party and gender, though there are still areas of agreement. Notably, increasing teacher retention through increasing pay rises to the top consistently.

For example, Democrats, Republicans and Independents all ranked in their top priorities both increasing teacher retention through increased pay (64%, 25% and 41% respectively) and smaller class sizes for students (38%, 34% and 27% respectively). However, as can be seen in the percentages, the proportion of each party affiliation that considers teacher retention through pay and smaller class sizes top priorities varies significantly.

In fact, teacher retention through increased pay was the very top priority for Democrats and Independents. Republicans’ highest overall priority was holding teachers accountable for what is taught in the classroom.

Both adequate amount of funding and adequate support for music and arts were among the top priorities for Democrats and Independents.

Republicans and Democrats ranked modernizing curriculum to more adequately prepare students for the 21st century (23% and 38% respectively) among their top priorities.

Men and women had in common in their top ranked priorities both increasing teacher retention through increased pay (44% for men and 37% for women) and modernizing curriculum to more adequately prepare students for today’s workforce (28% for men and 26% for women). Aside from those two issues, men had in their top priorities adequate amount of funding for students, holding teachers accountable for what is taught in the classroom, and improving student mastery of core curriculum concepts. On the other hand, women had smaller class sizes for students, ensuring music and the arts receive adequate support, and providing more personalized learning to students in their top priorities.

With all that said, it’s important to highlight the common ground among subgroups in what they consider among their highest priorities: retaining teachers through increased pay.

Utah policymakers have made conscious strides to increase the pay of teachers Utah in recent years – including starting pay. Starting teacher pay in Utah as of Fiscal Year 2024 is nearly $60,000, up 35.1% in the past five fiscal years, ranking second highest in the country. They have also created a stipend program, which aims to make teacher salary a six-figure profession for those qualifying as some of the best teachers. And Utah’s teacher retention rate ranks high among states, with more than 9 out of every 10 teachers in Utah being retained in each of the last five years. Thus, respondents reporting that teacher retention through more pay is a top concern for them may help explain how and who they’ve voted into office in the past. It may also suggest that they will want to see more progress accomplished on this front. Newly elected candidates may also want to pay attention to these trends as well.

Obviously, finding common ground in policy goals is a positive takeaway in an era that focuses on political division. On the other hand, subgroups having different values and priorities can also be a positive reality. Various groups advocating for different issues could create a more well-rounded public education system, where important aspects don’t get overlooked.

Additionally, lawmakers seeking education policy reforms need to understand the varying priorities of different groups if they are going to succeed in enacting reform. For instance, an education reform that accomplishes a priority shared by both men and women may still fail to gain the consensus required to pass the Utah Legislature if provisions of the reform undermine a different top priority of women that isn’t shared by men (or vice versa).

Perceptions of the quality of public education

Enrollment in public education has been decreasing, with this year’s enrollment numbers showing an historic dip. Declining enrollment is expected to continue over time. The reasons for this are multi-layered, but they include changing demographics, dropping fertility rates and possibly even increased parent choices. In this time of enrollment decline amid increasing education options, an important factor for the future of public schools is how parents currently view the quality of public education.

Our recent polling data shows a stark difference in opinion about the quality of public education between parents and teachers. Only 35% of parents describe Utah public education as excellent/good while 64% say it’s fair/poor. At the same time, 76% of teachers believe it’s excellent/good and only 25% say it’s fair/poor.

Where the significant difference in perception comes from is not clear. Recent polling data published in September suggests that a parent-teacher perception gap exists in things like access to curriculum and parent engagement. While these gaps may not be at the center of the overall perception of quality of public education, they may be contributing factors to a sense that parents and teachers are not always on the same page.

Conclusion

Elections matter. How Utahns prioritize issues matters even more if they actually get out and vote. Especially at the state and local level, individual votes can have massive consequences for the issues they would like to see made into public policy. We hope Utahns vote in ways that allow their top priorities to be heard and to ensure that public education is an institution that parents feel is excellent when they choose it. Happy final days of the 2024 election season.