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The debate over Utah's school voucher program is extending to Washington, where Rep. Rob Bishop says the state school board's opposition to vouchers is hampering his efforts to get flexibility with federal education requirements.
Scott Parker, Bishop's chief of staff, said the Utah Republican has been asked why his state hasn't allowed for school choice that vouchers could provide.
''He's gotten the impression on more than one occasion that Utah's sort of being viewed as a little bit inconsistent when we keep asking for flexibility here at the federal level but won't allow for some parents and students at the local level to have choice,'' Parker said.
Voucher foes say the two issues have nothing to do with each other and accuse voucher supporters of trying to cloud the matter with politics.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed the nation's broadest private school voucher program. It gives parents $500 to $3,000 per child to spend on tuition at a private school. However, opponents gathered enough signatures to force a Nov. 6 referendum on the program, putting the new law on hold.
The state school board opposed the voucher program and rejected the advice of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to offer vouchers while the state Supreme Court decided whether an amendment to the voucher law was enough to start the program.
Voucher foes say the rift between the Legislature and state school board is harming Bishop's efforts in Washington. However, state school board chairman Kim Burningham says he doesn't buy those arguments. ''That really doesn't speak very highly of the U.S. Department of Education if that is true,'' he said. ''I'm offended by it.''
State lawmakers are critical of the federal No Child Left Behind Act because they say it undermines local control and doesn't provide funding necessary to implement it.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education said the federal education guidelines have nothing to do with school vouchers or a public challenge to them.
''We're uncertain as to what Congressman Bishop is referring. There is no connection between state flexibility under No Child Left Behind and the voucher program,'' said Jo Ann Webb.
Utah once challenged No Child Left Behind, threatening to defy the No Child law and forfeit $76 million in federal aid. The Legislature, however, adopted a softer approach, telling state education officials to give precedence to Utah's own assessment standards over federal mandates.
Parker says Bishop has been trying to help the state receive waivers from the Department of Education for certain aspects of federal law and to allow Utah to try some pilot programs. But he said the voucher opponents are sending mixed signals by challenging the law.
Burningham says Bishop and others are playing politics with the November vote.
''I guess the logic is that the arch conservatives are supporting vouchers nationwide and when we oppose them . . . it therefore weakens other conservative efforts like opposition to No Child Left Behind,'' he said.