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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Permanent State School Fund, an endowment created to support public schools, has hit a record $3.3 billion, Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks announced Monday.
In the upcoming school year, public schools are set to receive a record $106 million distribution from the fund. But schools could receive even more depending on how Utahns in November vote on a constitutional amendment that would raise the cap of distributions from the fund from 4% to 5%.
If the amendment were already in place, that would mean an additional $13 million beyond the $106 million in land grant trust distributions.
"Utah students are seeing the fruits of the prudent administration of trust lands and investment assets with the impressive growth of the fund," Oaks said in a statement. "Because of consistently strong investment returns, the fund needs to pay out more of its earnings today. The proposed constitutional amendment will give the School and Institutional Trust Funds Office the flexibility to meet its fiduciary obligation to balance funding between current and future students."
Distributions from the fund are also unique in the sense that individual schools determine the best use of the funds through their School Community Councils made up of parents and educators. One school might use the funds to hire teaching aides, while another could opt to put more money into college preparation or career training.
The Utah Education Association — Utah's largest teachers' association, made up of 18,000 educators across the state — on Tuesday said it supports the amendment to raise the cap to ensure "sustainable, equitable funding for all of Utah's public school students today and in the future."
"The record-setting fund puts Utah in an enviable position of needing to raise the constitutional distributional cap. We believe the fund is in good standing because of the structures created by the state Legislature, comprising a professional board to manage physical assets and an entity to oversee financial assets," Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney said in a statement to KSL.com.
The fund has grown from just $50 million 30 years ago to $3.3 billion today, a growth that "illustrates why Utah's Trust System management is one of the most respected in the nation," Kim Christy, director of the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office, said in a statement.
"We applaud Utah's unique structure, which directs funds to public schools and empowers School Community Councils — primarily composed of parents and educators — to distribute resources where they are needed most. This community-led approach enables a tailored response to local academic priorities and needs," Pinkney said.
