• Overall public school enrollment has gone down in the state, but enrollment has increased for charter schools.
• Among the issues Utah education leaders have championed for public education are expanding CTE, addressing absenteeism, and helping English language learners.
• Sutherland Institute’s policy recommendations for public education focus on equipping parents with information.

​An audit of public schools’ student performance on statewide tests showed stagnating proficiency levels in public schools and serious issues with ongoing absenteeism, as Utah’s Legislative Audit Subcommittee learned in a recent presentation.

This comes after the annual October report on school enrollment showed what one headline called a “historic enrollment drop” in public schools.

Still, it’s clear the state’s top executive has made public education a top priority, a system that ranks No. 2 in the nation. Just last week in the FY 2026 budget recommendations, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recommended that K-12 public education receive $759.8 million (including $178.6 million for a 4% increase of the WPU) and rural schools receive $54 million.

With a lot going on in Utah’s public schools, it’s important to keep up with the latest policy happenings. What follows is a deeper look at enrollment changes and top issues for public schools in 2025.

Overall enrollment numbers for Utah district and charter schools

According to the most recent data, statewide enrollment this year in public schools – both public and charter – is 667,789. That’s the “historic” 0.7% decrease (or a loss of 4,873 students) from last year, when enrollment was 672,662. For some perspective, that’s down 0.97% from three years ago in school year (SY) 2021-22, when enrollment was 674,351.

According to a new report, these decreased fall 2024 enrollment numbers are even fewer than what was projected by the state in fall of last year. In fact, not only does the report note that this is the third year of enrollment decrease, but state leaders also anticipate enrollment to decline over the next decade.

At the same time, as was the case last year, public charter school enrollment has gone up. This year charter school enrollment across the state is 81,810. That’s up 3.2% from last year, when enrollment for charter schools was 79,245. Likewise, that’s an increase of 5.2% from three years ago in SY 2021-2022.

Looking at specific districts and charter schools

If you look at some of the biggest and smallest districts and charter schools in the state from the data on the Utah State Board of Education website, you can see other interesting trends as well.

Among the largest school districts, Alpine School District saw an increase in enrollment, whereas Davis and Jordan districts saw decreases. This follows the exact trends seen for each of them from last year.

When reviewing the state’s smallest school districts, Wayne School District had an increase in enrollment (last year it had a decrease), Tintic School District’s enrollment stayed the same (last year it had an increase), and Daggett saw a decrease (last year it remained the same). It appears there is more variability in enrollment changes year-to-year with smaller districts than in the larger districts, which makes sense given a handful of students can make a large difference in direction.

The three largest charter schools in the state all had increases in enrollment (American Preparatory Academy, Ascent Academies of Utah, and Summit Academy).

Looking at the three smallest charter schools in the state, Uintah River High had an increase, while City Academy and Moab Charter School had decreases in enrollment.

Top issues for Utah public schools

Because the next legislative session is right around the corner, it’s worth considering what is likely to be addressed and what ought to be discussed in 2025 to improve public education in the state.

House Speaker Mike Schultz has said that upon becoming speaker in his respective legislative chamber, education became one of his top priorities and has signaled his support for funds for CTE in secondary schools, expansion of the state’s education scholarship program, and cleanup and efficiency reforms in higher education.

The reappointed chair of the House Education Standing Committee, Rep. Candice Pierucci, has said on X that the committee has been focused on “class size reduction, English language learning services, chronic absenteeism and higher education.”

A more detailed review of the governor’s budget recommendations reveals that other priorities are supporting student nutrition, ensuring safety of school buildings, reducing cellphone use in classrooms, expanding CTE, and helping students attain credentials in high school.

Sutherland Institute recommendations focus on parent information

Sutherland Institute’s policy recommendations for public education focus on equipping parents with information.

The recent audit of public schools on testing performance highlighted the fact that the problem with absenteeism is especially pronounced for English language learners. Because part of the solution in overcoming absenteeism lies with parents, it’s key that communication with parents be improved.

Recent data on how Utah parents feel about transparency of classroom materials versus how schoolteachers view transparency might be instructive here. The data show that while teachers feel they are sharing information with parents, that is not as apparent to parents. An information gap seems to exist between what’s technically available to parents and what parents understand. This same disconnect with parents might extend to student absences and could be compounded for parents with a language barrier. Policy that increases or improves outreach to parents and/or offers more communications in additional languages could help.

Likewise, Sutherland Institute believes additional efforts to boost parent access to information about what is taught in public classrooms ought to be part of the discussion. Because so much policymaking has been done in the area, having a grant program that offers stipends for teachers who voluntarily beef up their efforts to give parents access to what they’re teaching is the next practical step.

Sutherland Institute is also interested in giving parents more information about open enrollment when they are seeking the best public school for their children. Increasing transparency of open enrollment data at the state level, expressly prohibiting address discrimination in accepting or rejecting applications, and providing parents with written notice of the reason for denial when a transfer is not accepted are all among the needed reforms to empower parents with better information.

Conclusion

Utah’s public education system is ranked high in the nation, which is good news. But looking at the shortcomings, anticipating enrollment changes, and looking at reforms is all part of the work to keep it among the top education systems in the country. With ongoing investment and prioritization of Utah’s leadership, we can be hopeful the state will remain a leader.