Utah PTA supports petition to suspend new tax law
Utah PTA is voicing its support in favor of the Utah 2019 Tax Referendum. Members of the Board of Directors of the state’s largest parent-volunteer association voted unanimously Thursday to officially support efforts to collect signatures in opposition of Utah’s new tax reform bill.
As dedicated volunteers, the parents, teachers, grandparents and students in Utah PTA have a calling and mission to help every child’s potential become a reality. We donate thousands of hours, worth millions of dollars, to our schools because we know education is key to achieving potential. When there is a threat to the funding Utah schools will receive, and therefore a threat to the future of our children, we are compelled to action.
It is Utah PTA’s position that the tax reform legislation that was recently approved by Utah’s Legislature in a special session is a threat to the long-term funding of education in Utah. It cuts Utah’s funding source for education and places an untenable burden on Utah’s most vulnerable populations, including families with children who are already going hungry without adequate means to purchase food.
Utah PTA believes in the importance of a constitutional guarantee and increased funding for a public education system that is available to all children in our state. We support education appropriations that fully fund enrollment growth and increases to the weighted pupil unit. We also support a robust political system that values the desires of Utah’s citizens and allows the means to suspend the new tax bill and put it forward to a vote of the people.
The motto of Utah PTA is, “Every child, one voice.” We encourage PTA members to be educated about this issue and involved in the community, and to use their voice in behalf of the children and families of Utah.
