Home / About

Independent data for informed taxpayers.

Independent, nonpartisan research and data on Utah public-school finances and outcomes — starting with a detailed case study of Tooele County School District.

Independence

An independent research and data project. Not affiliated with the Utah State Board of Education, the Utah Office of the State Auditor, Utah school districts, or any other government agency.

Our mission

To give Utah taxpayers, parents, educators, journalists, researchers, and other members of the public independent analysis of Utah public-school finances and outcomes.

We want to help answer questions like:

  • Where does school funding come from, and how much are districts spending?
  • How has spending changed over time, and how much is spent per student?
  • How do staffing and compensation change relative to enrollment?
  • How much debt does each district carry, and what are capital projects costing?
  • How do districts compare with other similar districts?
  • What changes look unusual or deserve a closer look?
  • How do spending patterns relate to measurable educational outcomes?

We don’t presume that higher spending is wasteful or that lower spending is better. Efficiency is judged alongside each district’s responsibilities, students, enrollment growth, legal requirements, and results.

Our goal is not to tell you what to conclude. It is to make public information easier to understand and investigate, so you can reach your own conclusions.

Political neutrality

✓ We do

  • Present primary-source facts
  • Separate facts from calculations, interpretations, and hypotheses
  • Identify alternative explanations for anomalies
  • Link to original government records
  • Let readers reproduce our calculations
  • Publish evidence, including evidence unfavorable to a district

✕ We don’t

  • Support or oppose candidates, parties, or board members
  • Take positions on bonds, tax increases, or ballot measures
  • Assume misconduct or infer intent from unusual spending
  • Call spending wasteful without evidence

Who this is for

Taxpayers first — and parents, educators, school employees, community organizations, journalists, researchers, and public officials. We write for intelligent readers who may not know government accounting terms.

Roadmap

From one district to the whole state

Tooele County School District is the proof of concept: a case study where we build the methodology, data model, and investigative framework that can be used for other Utah districts.

In progress

Phase 1 — Tooele case study

A comprehensive financial and operational profile of Tooele County School District, validated against primary government records.

  • Done: revenue, spending by category, budget vs. actual, and reserves, FY2012–FY2025
  • Next: enrollment, per-student and inflation-adjusted figures, taxes, debt and bonds, staffing, outcomes, audit findings
Started

Phase 2 — Peer comparison

Tooele alongside Iron County, Cache County, and Box Elder school districts, then peer groups defined by enrollment, geography, growth, and demographics.

  • Done: four-district comparisons on every finance measure; any district can be added on the Compare page
  • Next: data-driven peer groups
Started

Phase 3 — Utah statewide dataset

Normalized datasets for all Utah school districts (and charter schools where comparable), a statewide data explorer, and standardized district profiles.

Planned

Phase 4 — Investigative research

Use the statewide dataset to identify unusual trends, outliers, budget variances, compensation patterns, debt activity, and capital spending that warrant a closer look — then return to primary documents before publishing anything substantive.

Contact

Get updates. Send a correction. Share a lead.

If you find an error, we want to know — corrections are noted on the page where they are made. Tips and documents are welcome; we verify every lead against primary sources before publishing anything.

Get updates

New analyses are published as each dataset is collected and checked.

Email us to subscribe

Corrections, questions, and tips: info@utahschools.fyi