This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utahns long ago gave up being ranked anywhere near No. 1 in public education, considering the lack of commitment among their legislators to creating a top-notch system. But dropping to eighth-worst in the latest Quality Counts national report should be cause for real concern.

It's especially worrisome that Utah's trend in this assessment is toward the bottom. The state has dropped four places in two years.

The annual report by Education Week assesses such things as per-pupil spending, in which Utah has ranked last among all the states and District of Columbia for many years. No surprise there. Utah earned an overall grade of D+ in school finances, even factoring in a No. 1 ranking in the category of "spreading money evenly throughout the state."

No doubt there is a correlation between the near-failing grade in financial support and the D+ grade the state earned in student achievement from kindergarten through 12th grade. The report referred to Utah's poor showing in the percentage of students proficient in math and reading as shown by results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. More than a third were not proficient.

And the report cited Utah's declining high school graduation rate, which dropped 7.4 percent from 2000 to 2008.

This report isn't the last word on education in Utah. It is just one of many in recent months cataloging Utah's slide from excellence toward mediocrity, or worse. Just because we've heard it before shouldn't discount its validity.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress indicated Utah had one of the six largest gaps in the nation between white and Latino fourth-graders when it came to math and reading scores in 2009.

The Utah Foundation reported Utah students most often rank last on NAEP math, reading and science tests when compared with students of similar ethnic makeups, parental education levels and poverty rates in other states.

Another foundation report showed Utah's education funding effort has fallen significantly since 1995. Utah ranks 26th in the nation for the amount of tax revenue public education received for every $1,000 in personal income in 2009. That report called the decline "unprecedented, especially given the state's history of high proportions of personal income dedicated to public education."

Utahns can't afford to become complacent about the growing research that shows the Beehive State failing its children. They should hold legislators accountable and demand they do better.