This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In less than two months, Utah voters will decide whether their taxes will go to private schools in the form of tuition vouchers.
It will, no doubt, be an interesting eight weeks. Opponents and supporters of vouchers will both make their arguments in newspaper, television and radio ads, in direct-mail materials and in public forums.
Pro-voucher ads will tout freedom of choice and decry the state of the public school system. Anti-voucher groups will remind us that public schools are seriously underfunded and that parents already are free to choose between private schools, state-run charter schools and a variety of traditional public schools in their districts.
But for us, the defining question in the voucher debate is simply this: Should taxpayer dollars go to private schools, many of which are religion-based?
Our answer is an emphatic no.
Nonetheless, we believe there is great value in a serious, focused, forthright public discussion of this seminal question.
There is hardly a more pressing issue in Utah than education, and rightly so. Vibrant public schools are where our young people learn many of the skills that will help them become informed, productive citizens able to support themselves and their families, pay taxes and otherwise contribute to the well-being of our communities, our state and the nation.
It is a shame that the Utah Legislature, especially its majority leadership, has lavished so much time and attention promoting what is by far the most comprehensive private school voucher law in the nation, based on the ultraconservative ideal of privatizing most government functions, including education.
This ideological crusade has gone on for years in Utah, without majority public support, while public schools have suffered from a chronic lack of funding that is unrivaled in this country.
Our public schools should offer full-day kindergarten for all children, remedial help for students who are struggling, early-grade reading programs and smaller class sizes for the youngest children. Most parents would agree.
Minority children and those from low-income households are especially at risk in Utah, but vouchers offer little for them. Most of their parents can't afford and don't want to transfer, and transport, their children to the relatively few private schools, located almost exclusively along the Wasatch Front.
A vast majority of parents want public schools to meet their children's needs. And that takes a united effort of legislators, educators and the community. The voucher issue has been a distraction from that effort, a distraction that Utah's children can ill afford.
Few will escape the voucher debate - the messages coming from both sides will be loud and insistent. All the more reason to pay attention, so that our votes are cast with a clear understanding of the issue.
This is a watershed moment for Utah education, for the voting public finally has an opportunity to pass judgment on the wisdom of spending precious tax dollars on private schools for the few.
Maybe afterword, the legislators who represent us on Capitol Hill will finally give their undivided attention to the collaborative task of improving the public school system that is the key to Utah's future.