4) A 1 percent increase in the state's personal income tax rate (from 5 percent to 6 percent) and a reduction in tax loopholes that together will add up to a $1 billion a year increase for public schools. This will go far to achieve the above priorities and others (such as improved assessment measures). We need that much new money to recoup the billions (yes, it's true) that have been lost to public education over the past two decades because of income tax cuts and spending shifts. Such an investment would show Utah's commitment to regaining our place among the top ten education systems in the country and to overcoming our decline in measures of student achievement.