House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, (Left) and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, (Right) listen as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (center) announces new annual raises for teachers. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch)
Utah teachers and their support staff will soon see a pay bump after the governor and legislative leaders announced a salary increase on Friday.
Now, the state’s teachers will see a $1,446 raise, while support staff — which includes paraeducators and administrative, custodial and food service employees — will get a one-time $1,000 bonus.
“Over the past four years, we’ve done more for education than any administration in the history of our state,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Friday during a media event announcing the raise. “Our priority is to support you, then step back and let you do what you do.”
But the raise does little to quell the tension between the Legislature and the Utah Education Association, or UEA, which represents about 18,000 educators in the state. The union was in staunch opposition to a law passed this session by the House and Senate, and signed by the governor, which prohibits teacher unions from collective bargaining.
“The assertions made by Utah’s leadership are nothing more than political posturing that ignores the reality facing Utah’s public schools,” the UEA said in a statement following the announcement. “While a salary increase is an important recognition of the education profession, Utah’s public schools remain underfunded, classrooms are overcrowded, and educators are struggling under the weight of unsustainable workloads.”
The UEA blasted “anti-public education politicians” for ignoring calls from thousands of Utahns who opposed the union bill, HB267, which they said silences educator voices.
‘Some of the highest teacher salaries in the West’
Starting salaries for most public school teachers in Utah are between $50,000 and $60,000, depending on the district, according to a 2024 report compiled by the Legislature. At $49,000, Piute School District had the lowest starting salary — Park City has the highest, with beginner teachers making $65,523 per year.
“We have some of the highest teacher salaries in the West,” said Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, Friday morning. “With this bonus, this additional compensation, our starting teacher salaries will be between $60,000 and $65,000. That’s almost a 50% increase in five years. No other state in the nation has done more for teacher compensation than Utah.”
Lawmakers are allocating $50 million for the salary increase, which will raise teacher salaries by $1,000. Combined with a $446 educator salary adjustment included in the state’s base budget, teachers will see a total $1,446 raise, starting July 1. The bonus for support staff comes from a separate $50 million appropriation.
In addition to the raise, lawmakers touted a number of other funding measures for teachers they hope will make it into the budget. That includes $77.7 million for educator professional time (so teachers can study subject areas, plan lessons and more), $65 million for the state’s Career and Technical Education Catalyst grant program, $14.3 million for school supplies and materials, $12.4 million for stipends for student teachers, and $7.3 million for the Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline grant program.
“There’s a narrative out there being pushed by a small group of people … that the legislature doesn’t like our teachers and that we don’t value education,” said House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper. “That is simply not true. I want to set the record straight on that again … I think I speak for every member of the Legislature when I say teachers and education are among our highest priorities.”
But for some on Friday, the raise appeared to be an attempt by lawmakers to save face for pushing through HB267, one of the most controversial bills this legislative session.
Sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, and Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, the bill prohibits public unions (which represent teachers, firefighters, police officers, municipal workers and other public employees) from entering negotiations with employers to finalize an employment contract.
The bill sponsors said it would save taxpayer dollars, while making sure that all public employees could advocate for their own terms of employment, whether they’re union members or not. Unions begged to differ.
Public employees and union advocates, both in the public and private sector, protested the bill at every step. And a recent poll from the bipartisan polling firm RABA Research found that 78% of respondents wanted Cox to veto it.
“I think it was maybe a reactionary effort on their part to say, ‘look we do love you even though we stifled your ability to collectively bargain,’” said Mike Harmon, an educator of 28 years in Salt Lake City, who works with students experiencing homelessness.
“Funding for education is always important, and I appreciate that,” Harmon said on Friday following the announcement. “It’s concerning that education was not consulted where our needs are.”
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