Trust LandsUtah PTA believes that income from trust lands granted to the state at the time statehood was achieved are essential to educational funding in Utah. Utah PTA's goal is to represent beneficiaries of this trust in resulting legislation.
School Trust Lands School Trusts Lands were granted by the United States to each state joining the union beginning with Ohio 1803 through Alaska in 1959. These lands were granted in trust for the support of public education. Initially, each state received one square mile in each six square mile township. As western states were added, the grants expanded to two sections per township. When Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico entered the union they were granted four sections per township." What are School Trust Lands and how did we get them?In 1894, Congress granted one‐ninth of all the land in Utah to a trust to support public schools. This grant was not a gift; it was granted in exchange for Utah not taxing the federal lands which make up nearly 2/3 of the land in Utah. The state of Utah accepted the grant along with the obligation to be the trustee. The trust principles impose fiduciary duties upon the state, including a duty of undivided loyalty to, and a strict requirement to administer the lands (and revenues generated from the lands) for the exclusive benefit of the beneficiaries. Who manages the land? The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration manages the school trust lands in the most prudent and profitable manner for the schools. The Trust Lands Administration was created in 1994, patterned after a corporate business structure. At that time, the agency was separated from other government agencies to eliminate potential conflicts of interest. This past year, the Trust Lands Administration deposited more than $138 million into the permanent school fund. How does the Trust generate money? Revenues are generated through leases, sales, minerals and real estate development. Revenues from the land are placed in a permanent savings account known as the permanent State School Fund, which is not spent. The State Treasurer invests the money. The investments are balanced to both grow the size of the fund and generate interest and dividends to be distributed to our schools. The principal balance (capital gains) is not used, but is instead allowed to continue to grow – only the interest and dividends are distributed each year to support our schools. In 1983, there was just $18 million in the fund that had accumulated in the 79 years since statehood. Currently (2011) the balance of the fund totals over 1 billion dollars, and $22.6 million has been distributed in interest and dividends to our Utah schools in the 2010‐2011 school year. An average elementary school received $24,690, an average middle school/junior high school received $35,821, and an average high school received $47,821. How does the money improve public education? Since September of 2000, the money distributed from the School LAND Trust program goes directly to each public school in Utah on a percentage and then per pupil basis. The school community council determines each school’s greatest academic need and prepares a plan to address that need with the school’s portion of the money. Local school boards approve the plans and have responsibility to oversee the program. |
What can our PTA do?Be sure your PTA has representation on your school’s community council. If a member of the PTA board is not currently an elected member of the community council, your board can still have someone attend the meetings to provide input and participate on any community council sub‐committees. Make sure you have a candidate from your PTA executive board nominated during the next election cycle. Work with your principal and community council chair to prepare an article for the school or PTA newsletter discussing the School LAND Trust program and how your school is using their School LAND Trust funds.
Write letters to Utah’s Congressional Delegation, Governor, your state legislators and other elected officials informing them of how the Trust Lands funds are being used in your school. Let them know of your support for the program. Make sure the e‐mail address of your PTA liaison and other School Community Council members are on the School LAND Trust website. The principal should enter the information every year. The address is www.schoollandtrust.org. Have your PTA Legislative Vice‐President join the Member‐to‐Member email list at www.utahpta.org to receive important updates about Trust Lands and other issues. Check your computers to be sure that these e‐mails are not blocked so you can receive up‐to‐date information. June 2005 |
Utah Legislators Contact InformationLegislative Links & Resources
Utah State Legislature Web site: http://www.le.state.ut.us Utah Senate:
To find out who your Representative or Senator is and to find the information necessary to contact them, go to the following link: http://www.utahsenate.org/map.shtml This is a very easy tool to get information about both your Representative and your Senator. You simply need to type in your address and city and hit "Go." If you click on the name of your State Representative or State Senator, you will see more information about your legislator, including their email address, phone number(s), address, and on which legislative committees they serve. |
How do I contact my Legislators?To find out who your Representative or Senator is and to find the information necessary to contact them, go to the following link:
http://www.utahsenate.org/map.shtml This is a very easy tool to get information about both your Representative and your Senator. You simply need to type in your address and city and hit "Go." If you click on the name of your representative or Senator, you will see more information about your legislator, including email address, phone number(s), address, and which legislative committees they serve on. Become A Delegate!
Take a Step Forward for Children and Public Education.
Become a Delegate! View the slideshow. Print a handout for use with the presentation here. Print a pledge card here. (Mail signed pledgecards to Utah PTA, Attn: Dawn Davies, 5192 South Greenpine Dr, SLC UT 84123) Attached Documents: Utahans for Public Schools Flier Utahans for Public Schools Training Pledge Card Become A Delegate Powerpoint Utah County Voter and Election Information
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