Rep. Clark's February 18 Trib guest editorial erroneously stated that Utah's student population is double New Jersey's. This was intended to help explain why Utah is in last place in per pupil spending and how New Jersey can afford to be in first place because its student population is a much smaller percentage of its total population. Utah's 2.6 million population is slightly over half of New Jersey's total of 5 million, he wrote, yet Utah with 500,000 students has double the number of children in public schools.
This double figure is based on the incorrect claim that New Jersey had only 250,000 students. Current data shows New Jersey's public school enrollment to be about 1.39 million. New Jersey's total population is actually about 8.4 million. So Utah's total population is only about one-third of New Jersey's, and Utah's 500,000 students is only 36 percent of New Jersey's. Ergo, Utah doesn't have a much larger percentage of its population in school. Utah's student population number is 19 percent compared to New Jersey's 17 percent. Rep. Clark needs to find correct data to explain Utah's last place in per pupil spending.
Don L. Miller (D)
This double figure is based on the incorrect claim that New Jersey had only 250,000 students. Current data shows New Jersey's public school enrollment to be about 1.39 million. New Jersey's total population is actually about 8.4 million. So Utah's total population is only about one-third of New Jersey's, and Utah's 500,000 students is only 36 percent of New Jersey's. Ergo, Utah doesn't have a much larger percentage of its population in school. Utah's student population number is 19 percent compared to New Jersey's 17 percent. Rep. Clark needs to find correct data to explain Utah's last place in per pupil spending.
Don L. Miller (D)
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