What if opportunity knocks and no one answersfi

Or worse, what if the door is slammed in its facefi

Voters need to be aware that tax cuts being considered by the Legislature will further erode funding for our public schools at a critical time. In light of the state's huge surplus, tax cuts will also result in a missed opportunity to make a real investment in our future.

Gov. Huntsman and the Legislature are considering a special session of this fall to change the state's income tax structure. They call it "tax reform," but Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, was recently quoted as saying the proposal is 99 percent tax cut and 1 percent tax reform.

Utah lawmakers are proposing a $115 million income tax cut that will reduce the tax revenue used to fund public schools. It is a bad decision and the public needs to be aware that it is anything but tax reform. Utah Tax Review Commission members have already raised concerns about revenue forecasts and the potential for public education to lose funding.

The facts speak for themselves. Utah ranks 51st in the nation in education spending and we are falling further behind each year. According to the Census Bureau, Utah is ranked first in funding higher education, but 39th in funding public schools.

In 2005, Utah's public schools received 86 percent of the state's income tax money. But in 2006, its share dropped to 77.5 percent. Colleges are getting more of the education dollar due to a 1996 amendment to the Utah Constitution which allows higher education to share income tax revenue.

From 1992-2004, Utah dropped from eighth to 36th place nationally in the amount of money spent on public education per $1,000 of personal income, according to an April 2006 report by the Utah Foundation.

Tax reform is too complicated for a one or two-day special session. Let's look at the recent history. During its six months of deliberation, the Tax Reform Task Force (appointed by the Legislature) could not agree on an income tax reform proposal to forward to the Legislature. The 2006 Legislature failed to reach consensus on how to structure a $70 million tax cut agreed to by the House, Senate, and governor. There are too many unanswered questions.

A major decision about tax reform must be made during the regular legislative session when lawmakers can examine the needs of the state side by side with cuts in revenue.

Utah students deserve smaller class sizes, modern textbooks and learning tools, and a quality teacher in every classroom. The state is in an economic position to invest in public schools. Such an investment would result in economic growth benefiting the entire state, in addition to benefiting our students.

There are no excuses for legislators who allow our investment in public schools to decline. If they fail to invest in our public schools, in our children, in our future, we should fail to invest in their political future come Election Day.

Kim Campbell is president of the Utah Education Association.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A10.