There are more costs that just the teacher salaries. The cost of textbooks is OUTRAGEOUS, plus other supply costs, utilities, furnishings, additional staffing such as secretaries, food service, janitorial, building maintenance, groundskeeping and transportation costs. It all adds up. Also, Utah is not a very comparable example. My spouse and I both graduated from Utah schools, and we had 2 kids spend some time in Utah schools before moving to Oregon. Yes Utah does more with less, but the entire culture there is different, and school is no exception. Kids graduate in Utah, it isn't a question, it isn't up for debate. Like all things Utah you do as is expected. No questions. The schools themselves aren't any better. but parent involvement and expectation is very high. Utah also has many year round schools, which helps keep the spending down. Finally, Utah DID do exactly as the writer suggested, they dumped the budget surplus a decade or two ago right back into the education of kids.