Not since Brigham Young led his Mormon pioneers west has there been such a pilgrimage. Utah has become an educational magnet to an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 students, some coming from as far away as Alaska and Florida. Most are trying to escape problems, such as troubled families, dope-dealing peers and marauding gangs. Utah does seem like a violence-weary city-kid’s paradise. The economy is booming. And the Mormon emphasis on family life helps ensure a civic commitment to schools and youth activities.

The educational immigrants don’t have an automatic right to attend a Utah school. In theory, a local resident must apply to a school or a judge for some sort of guardianship arrangement. Guardian status is routinely granted, and the kids then go to public school free. Some hosts prefer to skip the paperwork and pass a youngster off as their own. The trouble is that the out-of-state students cost the cash-strapped Utah schools as much as $20 million per year. Their parents don’t pay Utah taxes. Educators are particularly worried that troubled students from nearby California may bring their problems with them.

Now Utah state legislators are scrambling to tighten the rules. Local districts already can charge tuition – ranging from $3,000 to $4,500 – to out-of-state students who don’t have local guardians. The reform proposals would remove the rubber stamp from guardianship proceedings and, among other things, require that the new kids show they have no police records in their hometowns. Doug Bates, an attorney for the Utah state Office of Education, estimates that the new rules might cut future enrollment of such children by as much as 25 percent.

But the state doesn’t want to close the doors completely. The new kids bring some diversity to the student body. And officials want their schools to remain an affordable refuge for children who have no alternatives – particularly those related to the state’s sizable elderly population. “We don’t want to alienate the grandparents,” says Laurie Chivers, deputy state superintendent of schools. They pay taxes.