The Utah Land Trusts Protection & Advocacy Office recently announced that their Permanent State School Fund, an endowment created at statehood to support public schools, now tops $3.3 billion, a new record. The Trust Lands Administration (TLA) manages Utah’s 3.3 million acres of school trust lands, depositing revenue from the land into the Permanent State School Fund.

From their announcement:

“Each school year, Utah students receive distributions from the Permanent State School Fund, augmenting tax-funded sources for K-12 schools. As Treasurer Oaks reported last November, public schools will receive a record $106 million distribution from the fund for the upcoming school year.”

Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks added, “The trust lands system is set up to protect the interests of current and future students. The unique model of funding critical academic needs at the local level has been a huge success. The oil and gas sector is an integral part of Utah’s economy. Similarly, oil and gas royalties are the biggest source of revenue to the trust and have a very direct and visible impact on Utah students.”

He speaks the truth. As you can see from the top line of the infographic on the next page, the trust fund has been growing remarkably year after year since 2019, with more growth projected into the future. Note that this graphic represents the fiscal year 2023, and that the $3.2 billion of permanent funds represents the correct figures at that time.

This is a reminder that a robust and healthy oil and natural gas sector has far-reaching benefits in a multitude of ways, in Utah and beyond. There are the obvious ones like tax revenue and economic growth, quality, high-paying jobs, a higher degree of domestic energy security and support for our allies abroad. But there are less-seen, less-understood benefits like this direct impact on our public education system.