Banning phones and boosting literacy: Utah’s 2026 education legislative priorities

• Education bills have nearly always outpaced most other policy areas.
• We hope that legislators will consider how each policyimpacts parental rights and responsibilities and student learning.

​Utah’s legislative session is right around the corner, and as in past sessions, there are already more education bills than in most other policy areas.

Below are some emerging themes and Sutherland recommendations for the 2026 session.

Technology in education

A bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools is on its way. With the success of prohibiting phones during class time, the legislature is ready to extend the ban to the whole school day, making Utah the first state to do so. The 2026 House Majority Policy Priorities for Utah include reducing classroom disruptions from phones, and the Governor strongly supports a phone ban during school, so this initiative has a strong shot at passage.

Utah may limit technology in other ways thanks to two bills Utah leaders discussed at a recent conference. The Software Accountability for Education (SAFE) Act, and the Balance Act – would “set a standard for approving instructional software before use” and “provide a statewide standard for tech in schools by significantly reducing the screen time allowed in early grades,” respectively.

Student privacy is the aim of one particular “committee bill,” meaning it already passed through committee before the legislative session starts. It ensures that contracts with third-party providers include provisions allowing termination if certain circumstances violate federal or state law regarding student data or privacy.

Another bill seeks to beef up district internet policy, allowing parents to review their student’s activities on a public school device or request a preapproved content filtering system when their student uses a device.

Legislators will also consider imposing a half-credit digital literacy course, covering topics such as social media and AI literacy. The bill integrates digital literacy throughout K-12 education, creates a new graduation requirement, and establishes a task force to work on this issue over time.

Utah is poised to showcase its ability to balance differing interests here: leading out in embracing technology’s potential to help students (like AI), while trailblazing ways to protect kids. Doing both is a prudent policy path, especially in K-12 education, where the youngest of Utahns are involved. Striking the right balance will be the key.

Ongoing challenges like chronic absenteeism and reading proficiency

Two issues that are particularly distressing are chronic absenteeism and reading proficiency.

Both are ongoing challenges that have worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.  For instance, a new report from the Kem C. Gardner Institute shows that about half of Utah students in kindergarten through third grade cannot read at grade level. A recent symposium in Ogden focused on literacy, during which Gov. Spencer Cox, First Lady Abby Cox, and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson convened other leaders to discuss reforms, including reducing chronic absenteeism.

So far, Sen. Kathleen Riebe has a bill file open on literacy coaching in schools, while two other bills are specifically aimed at understanding and tackling chronic absenteeism. One requires LEAs to use enhanced attendance tracking, tiered interventions to address chronic absenteeism, and annually evaluate how the interventions are working. Another requires LEAs to share certain data on chronic absenteeism with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and then requires USBE to aggregate and share that data, as well as conduct a study of root causes and best practices to address chronic absenteeism.

While there are yearly concerns about the volume of education requirements and reports, chronic absenteeism and reading proficiency warrant public policy support. Discovering the effectiveness of interventions will require better data, which, it seems, the legislature is seeking in multiple ways.

Adjustments to education choice programs

Education choice is seeing additional legislation, but in less dramatic ways than in past years. Currently, the Utah Fits All Scholarship (UFAS) program is being challenged in court, but that’s not stopping lawmakers from making refinements to the state’s multiple education choice programs.

For instance, one bill removes the income eligibility for the Carson Smith Tax Credit Scholarship and seeks to align certain features with those of the Utah Fits All Scholarship. This includes shared definitions of expenses (and what doesn’t count as an expense) and ensuring caps on physical education and extracurricular spending.

Another seeks to ensure that, outside of specific circumstances, a home-based scholarship recipient (like UFAS) can’t repeat a grade for which they’ve already spent the money.

Two other bills are aimed at decoupling the Utah Fits All Scholarship program from the teacher salary increase – the compromise required by the Governor before he would sign the education choice program into law. One bill removes language that makes the salary increase dependent on the program being in operation. Another says the salary adjustment remains if the current (or future) court case invalidates the program.

At least one other bill file is open related to the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program. This means there is no text for the public to read yet, but it appears that more amendments will be proposed.

Education choice is a key education policy that supports a more fundamental liberty: parents guiding the upbringing of their children. This idea needs to be protected by the legislature.

And clearly, the Utah Fits All Scholarship remains a hot topic, but legislators should remember that education choice extends beyond private-choice programs. For instance, open enrollment, which allows parents to choose among district public schools, also needs reform. The state board should be required to report open enrollment data from each district (which they are already required to report on their individual websites) to provide an accurate picture of how this choice is being used and how it can be improved.

Utah State Board of Education and education governance adjustments

I’ve written previously about the future of state education agencies in this era of reduced federal intervention in education. State education agencies (like the Utah State Board of Education) will play a key role as states take the reins in more robust ways. And yet, the governance structure between the Utah legislature and USBE has sometimes been confusing. Utah’s legislature is planning to address USBE’s governance and its interactions with other governing bodies.

One bill makes modifications to the board, its administrative arm, and clarifies its responsibility for “general control and supervision” of the public education system. It clarifies the board’s rulemaking powers, adds requirements to the selection and tenure of the superintendent, clarifies what board staff can and cannot do, and brings the superintendency of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind (USDB) under the state superintendent as an assistant superintendent. Another bill allows the state superintendent to serve as the USDB superintendent. Governance changes regarding USDB follow a 2025 audit of mismanaged funds and a discussion to reexamine the governance structure.

Better collaboration on education bills may be in the future. There is now legislation to create an “education legislation advisory committee” to recommend issues and policies for addressing. It would bring together individuals from both the legislature, the state board, the governor’s office, local leaders, and parents to do this work. Increased collaboration through an education policy committee may help create a unified vision and reduce duplicative or unnecessary administrative burden.

If states are interested in increased state leadership in education, examining how the current education governance structure is working is healthy.

Financial support for schools, teachers, and school staff

Though leaders have said it’s another financially tight budget year, several bills would expand salary increases for teachers and school staff, building on past years’ efforts to do just this.

Some legislation seeks to make the teacher mentoring pilot program no longer a pilot but an ongoing program. The program offers teachers leadership roles and stipends in exchange for mentoring other educators. Another bill expands eligibility for the existing performance-based stipend that rewards excellent teachers and allows a teacher’s contribution to student growth to be factored into the qualification.

The Utah Education Association’s published legislative priorities include allowing school nurses to be eligible for the teacher supplement, which a new bill proposes, and a 2% increase in the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU).

Speaking of funding, a bill proposes cutting the income tax rate by 0.05%, which may mean less money for education, since income tax revenue in Utah funds education.

Salary increases for those working in our public schools are significant and make the most sense as they’re tied to opportunities for growth and demonstrated excellence.

Civics education

Last year, the legislature passed a bill that created a new civics education course. This year, a bill aims to teach students about their real-world responsibilities upon adulthood, such as voting rights, jury duty obligations, credit and debt (including student loans), and tax filings, to name just a few.

Another civics education bill has been filed, sponsored by Representative Ken Ivory, but the text is not public yet.

Civics education is a legacy issue for Sutherland Institute that remains a priority. Inasmuch as these legislative efforts help students understand our government, their rights and responsibilities in it, and equip them to be thoughtful participants, they are worthy of strong consideration.

Conclusion

There’s much more to come in education. Funding, CTE, student safety, and beyond, will be debated. We hope that legislators will consider how each policy impacts parental rights and responsibilities and student learning.