STATE AND LOCAL TAX EFFORT TO SUPPORT PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE 46 STATES 1951 52 SCHOOL YEAR UTAH TOPS NATION IN EFFORT Utah Foundation chart showing percentage of personal income spent for support of public schools in 48 states. PUPIL LOAD HIGH, INCOME LOW Two Main Factors Hike Education Costs in Utah (Editors note This is the third of a series of articles oil Utahs public school system. Source of the information, covering teacher salaries, organization, financing and other phases, is a study being prepared by the Utah Foundation, non profit tax research agency, for publication in September.) Because of a combination of circumstances, Utah residents must make a greater financial effort than the people of any other state to maintain a high level of education standards. The states relativel y high school load arises from two main factors, a study by the Utah Foundation shows. Main Factors On the one side of the equation the state has the highest percentage of total population enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools of any state in the union. On the other side its ability to pay for schools, as measured by per capita income, is far below the national average. The result of the two conditions has been to place Utah at the top of all the 48 states in percentage of total personal income expended on the public school system. In 1951 52, the latest year for which complete data are available, the state spent 4.09 out of each 100 of personal income for state and local school taxes. The national average was negative 2.56 and the low was Rhode Island with 1.70. Average for eight mountain states was 3.30. The heavy pupil load in relation to population arises mainly from two sources a high birth rate and low enrollment in non public or private schools. High Percentage In 1954 Utah had 24.6 per cent of its total population enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools compared with 18.3 for the nation and a low of 13.4 for Rhode Island. The percentage of pupils enrolled in non public schools was? 1.5 per cent for Utah compared with a national average of 12.5 per cent and a high of 28.3 for Rhode Island. Individual income per pupil enrolled in Utah for 1954 was 5,947 compared with a national average of 9,164, a high of 14,811 in New York and a low of 3,371 in Mississippi.