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The voucher campaign season has officially begun - and, voucher opponents say, so have the dirty tricks.
Parents for Choice in Education, which promotes vouchers in Utah, is sponsoring a telephone survey that links voucher opponents with advocates of same-sex unions.
Bill Lee, a Sandy resident, earlier this week received a call he described as "pretty nasty stuff." He took notes about a portion of the survey he said asks how someone's vote would be affected knowing the same group that opposes vouchers, the "liberal national teachers' union," supports same-sex unions along with higher taxes. Parents for Choice declined to release the survey questions.
"I can tell they're trying to get people to dislike the teachers' union and vote [for] vouchers because of something that's homophobic," Lee said.
But Parents for Choice defends the survey, one of several public opinion polls the group has done. The connection between teachers' groups and same-sex unions is already there, said Elisa Clements, the group's executive director. As with any survey, the group is trying to gauge public opinion.
"Many Utahns would be shocked to know the policies and positions promoted by the National Education Association, the parent organization of the UEA," she said, referencing the Utah Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, which opposes vouchers.
The UEA's communications director described the tactic as "dirty politics."
"There are absolutely no resolutions dealing with those issues that have been handled by the National Education Association," Mark Mickelsen said.
"You can go back in resolutions for 20 or 30 years and see the positions of the association are based on doing the right things for children in public education."
In the minds of some, the Parents for Choice survey approach is what's known as a push poll.
Though not specifically referring to this poll, Frank Guluzza, a Weber State University political scientist, explained that "push polling" is a technique that uses leading and loaded questions to trigger a response.
"The intent is to try to get a particular answer," Guluzza said, "by targeting the kinds of issues that the respondent will find objectionable."
Push polling also is sometimes used in an "educative/propaganda function," he said.
Mike Jerman, a board member of Parents for Choice, would not comment when asked if he supported the question being put in the poll. He also would not comment on the tactic of push polling in general.
When asked for clarification by a reporter, Parents for Choice pointed to NEA's 2007 resolutions, which, among other things, promote full-day kindergarten, small class size, and tolerance for others including those of a different sexual orientation.
Those resolutions include a portion against discrimination that mentions "the legal rights and obligations of the partners in a legally recognized domestic partnership, civil union, or marriage in regard to matters involving the other partner, such as medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption and immigration."
A section on sex education says that "programs should include information on sexual abstinence, birth control and family planning, diversity of culture, diversity of sexual orientation and gender identification, parenting skills, prenatal care, sexually transmitted diseases, incest, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, homophobia."
None of this has anything to do with a stand on same-sex unions, said Eddy Gattis, NEA public relations manager.
"When they can't argue about the issues they're going to bring up anything they can that would dissuade people from talking about the real issue, which is vouchers," he said. "They've gone from debating vouchers to name-calling."
Talking about same-sex unions instead of education comes down to flaws in the pro-voucher argument, said Mickelsen of the UEA.
"The pro-voucher groups recognize that if the debate is about the merits of the bill, then they lose," he said. "Utah voters already understand this particular voucher law is flawed in a number of ways, not the least of which is accountability for Utah taxpayers' money."
When asked why Parents for Choice chose to link same-sex unions and vouchers, Clements, the executive director, posed another question:
"Why is the National Education Association and the Utah Education Association, which are apparently focused on better education and quality teaching for our kids, why are they talking about same-sex marriage?"
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* GLEN WARCHOL contributed to this story.
* All current public school students and students in any type of school who qualify for reduced-price lunch would be eligible for vouchers.
* Participating schools must employ college-educated or skilled teachers, operate outside a residence, enroll at least 40 students and not discriminate based on race, color or national origin. They must give parents the results of a standardized test once a year and submit to a financial audit once every four years.
* Vouchers would range from $3,000 per child for families who qualify for reduced-price lunch ($37,000 annual income for a family of four) to $500 for families earning 150 percent more ($92,500 a year). Money would be transferred directly from the state Office of Education to the private school parents choose.
* The program would cost an estimated $9.3 million in the first year; $12.4 million the second.