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When the Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah in 1847, they created schools for their children. For the next several decades, schools were predominantly Mormon run with their ecclesiastical leaders organizing schools and Mormon doctrine and scriptures taught within the curriculum. As the United States continued expanding west, the population in Utah territory became increasingly non-Mormon, resulting in a push to publicize schools and separate church and state. When Utah became a state in 1896, schools became government funded and free from sectarian control, allowing for free public-school education throughout the state. In 1919, compulsory attendance laws were passed, increasing enrollment throughout the state. Throughout the twentieth century, heavy emphasis was placed on educational reform and providing better funding to Utah schools as funds, especially teacher salaries, were quite low. Despite minimal funding, Utah students have scored well in the nation, performing above the national average throughout the 1900's.

Pioneer Arrival and LDS Influence

Education in Utah began with the pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) , commonly referred to as “Mormons”. The pioneers fled to present-day Utah – then a territory of Mexico – to escape religious persecution and the Missouri Governor Bogg's extermination order, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ includes strong educational values. The founder of the church and first president, Joseph Smith Jr., stated, “The glory of God is intelligence,” and “A man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge.” Because of this strong educational value among the members, the pioneers, upon arrival, set up schools for their children.

For the first two-decades after settling in Utah, most schools were organized through church institutions. Classes took place in LDS church meeting houses and school boundaries followed the boundaries of LDS wards. The schools were each controlled by a local trustee whom was appointed by the bishop of each ward. Financial assistance lay almost entirely among those who attended and thus, the support of each school relied heavily on the economic conditions of the surrounding area.

With a lack of centralization and widely varying funding, the quality of education and the curriculum offered also varied throughout the state. However, due to their church sponsored support, the curriculum often taught moral values of the church and even included LDS scripture as supplemental sources. However, efforts to centralize curriculum and school policy began as early as 1851 with the creation of the office of territorial superintendent of schools, though centralization in practice wasn’t evident for several years.

Protestants and Transition to Public Schools

Schoolhouse in Pleasant Grove, Utah originally built in 1852-53 with additional wings being built in 1864. Now recognized as a Daughters of Utah Pioneers historical site

During the 1860s, schools slowly started to shift from ecclesiastical control to government control. County superintendents were put in place, legal responsibility for establishment and overseeing of schools transferred from the Bishop to city councils, and cities could collect taxes to help with teacher salaries and school supplies. Much of this change occurred because there were many non-LDS people moving into the territory, establishing Protestants and Catholics, although members of the Church of Jesus Christ were still the majority population in the state. Though they had been relatively isolated, the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 ushered in a much larger population of non-LDS groups. The large population of non-LDS people living within the state often clashed with the LDS dominated society, struggling with their social dominance and some doctrinal points such as polygamy . Many of the different religions, including Methodists, Presbyterians, and Catholics, sought to “Christianize” the LDS population, though they were already a Christian denomination. Protestants, in particular, sought to rid themselves of the “Mormon problem” intellectually by schooling the children of Utah and converting them away from the faith. They established mission schools for this purpose, the first of which was St. Marks school, built in 1867, which still exists today. These schools also served the purpose of providing private education, free from Mormon doctrine and influence.

By 1870, most public schools still required fees in order to provide salaries and materials, resulting in a push for publicized education. The legislature began using territorial receipts to provide these funds. The now 20% non-LDS population resisted the idea of funding going to public schools which were still essentially Mormon dominated schools. The minority religions called for a separation of church and state, a call made more significant as the Territiorial Superintendent of District Schools at the time was John Taylor, the third president of the LDS church, who had defeated the first liberal candidate to run, M. W. Ashbrook.

In 1887, the federal government stepped in, issuing the Edmunds-Tucker Act which required changes to many of the Church's political and social practices. Among these changes was the call to end the practice of polygamy and the abolishment of the territorial Superintendent of Schools. Instead, the Territorial Supreme Court was given appointment power of a "commissioner of schools" who would have the role of approving texts used in the schools and integrating Mormon and non-Mormon students and teachers. Soon after, legislation passed the School Law of 1890 which made public education essentially free throughout the territory. When Utah achieved statehood in 1896, this law expanded to make the schools government funded and maintained and completely free from sectarian control.

20th Century Public Schools

Utah children reading in school. Santa Clara, Utah, 1940

As the 19th century passed into the 20th century, Utah became one of the first states to equalize education throughout the state. In 1919, the first compulsory attendance laws were passed in Utah leading to increased enrollment in schools. As enrollment of students increased in the public school system in Utah, new problems would arise that would challenge the state.

Conflicts between Church and State

Conflict between church and state was a common issue that existed in public schools in Utah during this time. Utah boasted one of the lowest enrollments in the nations towards the beginning of the 20th century (0.5%), but families who were not members of the dominant church population in Utah felt that the public schools in Utah were essentially private schools because of the heavy influence from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the state. The church attempted to create a system of private schools in response to protestant reforms of education, but those schools were adopted into public schools which led to the low private school enrollment rate.

Financial Crises and Reforms

After World War II, attention turned from wartime industries in Utah back to peace time work which included bettering education. One of the themes that has defined education in Utah is that students have received above average test scores despite the deprivation of funds. This can be attributed partially to Utah's above average birth rate as compared to the nation. After World War II, teachers and schools started to take a stand and seek greater funding from the government to provide the education to the students they taught. Teachers found this to be difficult during the governorship of J. Bracken Lee (1949-1957) because of his sweeping budget reforms and his objection to receiving federal aid. After Lee left office, governors sought ways to provide more money to teachers and the education system, but it did not seem to be enough to fulfill the needs of the teachers.

In 1960, about 12 percent of teachers in Utah left their work in the schools for other jobs in the state due partially to insufficient salaries. Many students who were trained to be teachers took teaching jobs outside of Utah leaving about half of the teaching jobs in Utah filled by people who underwent alternate teaching certification methods or who were not certified teachers at all. Other issues that contributed to teachers leaving work had to do with the maintenance of buildings. Some schoolhouses were falling apart including roofs of buildings collapsing during school which prevented effective teaching from taking place. The financial crisis became so extreme that the National Education Association (NEA) sanctioned the state education system in Utah, the first time it had done this to a whole state in its history, in May of 1964. . After Calvin L. Rampton, a democratic governor elected after Lee, fixed some of the financial issues that brought about the sanctions from the NEA, the sanctions were lifted in 1965. After Rampton conducted his educational reforms and gave the schools more funds, schools began operating again, though not quite above the national averages.

More educational reforms began in Utah and throughout the United States in 1983 upon the release of the results of the publication released by the National Commission of Excellence in Education which ranked students in the United States below average as compared to other developed and developing countries around the world. This development in education was seen as an issue to national security and more funds were put into education nationally to improve the education system. Utah's governor, Scott Matheson, adopted new goals which helped improve education in Utah following the trends of the United States.

Successes

Despite some of the issues Utah dealt with in regards to the blurred line between church and state and financial crises, there were many students who went through Utah schools that were successful. Throughout these difficult times, Utah students continued to perform above the national average despite being underfunded. Utah also produced some of important intellectuals through their school system such as former Chief Justice George Sutherland.

Indian Placement Program (1953-1996)

The Indian Placement Program was an official program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to provide opportunities for children of Native Americans to receive an education in the schools that were dominated by the white settlers in the Mormon Corridor. The program stemmed from the Church's desire to invite the Native Americans or "Lamanites" into the church and become one people with them.

The Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City that ran from 1950-1984

The church invited Native American children to come live with an active family in the city for the school year as they attended the local school near their "foster" home. To participate in the program, a child needed to be a baptized member of the church, relatively free of emotional oddities, want to be educated, and keep good grades. Their biological parents would sign a form that would allow their children to participate in the program. The church and the "foster" family would provide for the remaining needs of the child participating. The program reached maximum enrollment in the 1970's at about 5,000 students.

There were participants who felt that they could not have achieved what they did in their lives without their involvement in the program, while others felt that their involvement in the program took them away from their culture that they could no longer identify with. Other critics of the program claimed that the church was kidnapping children to indoctrinate them into their faith and culture while others claimed it harmed the children's psychological welfare because of their separation from their biological parents.

As schools on reservations improved throughout the 1980's, enrollment in the Indian Placement Program fell until the church officially ended the program in 1996.

Higher Education

The University of Utah

The University of Utah was established in February of 1850 as the first university west of the Mississippi river by Brigham Young, the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The school was originally named the University of Deseret, after a word that came from the church's book of scripture, The Book of Mormon, meaning honeybee. The honeybee was a symbol of hard work and industry for members of the church and Brigham Young, and to name the university after that symbol mirrored Brigham Young's vision for the university. The name of the university was changed to the University of Utah in 1894, just two years prior to the state of Utah being admitted into the Union. The University of Utah currently boasts one of the top medical schools west of the Mississippi.

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University was established in 1875 by Brigham Young to help students in central Utah to receive a religious based higher education. The school was originally called Brigham Young Academy (B.Y.A.) until it was named Brigham Young University in 1903. Karl G. Maeser was the first principal of the school and is credited by the school as the one who kept the school running despite some of the early challenges to keeping the school. The school lost much of its financial backing following the death of Brigham Young in 1877 and sought funding from local members in the area to remain functioning. The school began to enjoy more success until the school burned down in 1884. After the school burned down, it moved up to Temple Hill, as it was called in Provo, where the school currently resides. The school currently boasts the largest private school enrollment in the United States with more than 30,000 students.

Utah State University

The Utah State Agricultural College was established in 1888 in Logan, Utah. The school grew steadily over the next few decades and was even used as one of many training grounds for the United States Army during World War II. The school went through multiple name changes over the first decades of its establishment, but finally settled on Utah State University in 1957. Utah State University has continued to grow and has a renowned engineering program that has a partnership with the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). They also have well known programs in the fields of education and environmental science.

Weber State University

Weber State University is a smaller four year college in Ogden, Utah. It was established as an academy similar Brigham Young Academy in 1889. This school continued to operate under jurisdiction of the church until the state took jurisdiction of the school in 1933. it almost returned to the jurisdiction of the church during J. Bracken Lee's governorship in his effort to reduce expenses for the state, but a referendum stopped the school from transitioning back to the church. The school continues to grow and boasts of great technology and liberal arts programs though the school is smaller than the other larger schools in the state.

Southern Utah University

Southern Utah University is a university in Cedar City, Utah that was established in 1897 as a state school. The people of Cedar City worked together to build the campus themselves as they built the first building for the university. The school became a university in 1992 and continues to grow every year. The school boasts a small teacher to student ratio and excellence in the scientific fields.

Utah Valley University

Utah Valley University is a university in Orem, Utah. Originally formed in 1941, Utah Valley Technical Institution was created to address some of the demands of the coming war (World War II). The training the institution gave was seen as necessary and received funding from the government to become a permanent institution in Orem. The school continued to grow from a technical college until in 2006, it was granted university status. Utah Valley University now boasts the largest enrollment for a school in Utah and serves many non-traditional students while providing education in programs that may not be traditionally present at other universities (such as piloting and first responder education).