Paul Mero (Tribune, Opinion, May 20) raised one important point.

South Carolina anti-voucher advocate Rev. Joseph Darby has ideas of great importance for Utahns to consider before they go to the polls. However, Mero's misguided embellishment on the words of this respected Southern leader to form a pro-voucher rationalization for Utah was very disturbing.

Answering questions dealing with public policy issues, Rev. Darby suggested that in order to build a stronger society and boost everyone's quality of life, "We need a progressive platform on education that affirms the worth of public schools, assures equitable funding for all public schools, acknowledges past inequities and sets forth steps in money, facility improvements and teacher recruitment to correct those past inequities."

This is a worthy blueprint for the improvement of education in Utah. A good education is the foundation of a citizen's ability to participate meaningfully in our democratic society. A good education should involve a challenging development of academic knowledge and skills.

Equally as important, a good education is expanded by its occurrence in a socially diverse setting where all children have the opportunity to make sense of civic, character and ethical issues together.

In order to ensure that all Utah children have access to a good education we must affirm the worth of public schools and make a good education available in every neighborhood school.

The fallacy is to believe that vouchers will improve our ability to provide this type of good education. There is no direct correlation between the choice to send a child to a private school and the improvement of our educational system.

So far, the vast amounts of money, time and energy devoted for years to pursuing a voucher program have only served to highlight some public dissatisfaction and to help acknowledge inequities in our current system. Imagine what a difference that same money, and especially time and energy devoted for years, could have made in the public education system by now.

With vouchers, only parents who have the ability to research options, to provide transportation to a private school, and to supplement the difference between what a voucher would provide and the actual cost of a private school, would have some freedom to opt for a different school.

Again, instead of helping to establish a good educational system that adapts to the interests of families and children, a voucher program would only provide for some families to choose another school.

Rev. Darby offers a better solution to improving educational opportunities than vouchers. He advises that "Successful and enduring movements for change require those in positions of power to share power and welcome new ideas, and we have miles to go in that regard."

Following this counsel, elected officials and representatives would do well to remember that their positions are about so much more than sharing power. Their power comes at the will of the people and it is their duty to represent those people.

Results of the upcoming public referendum should direct the future of vouchers in Utah. Secondly, district and school administrators could embrace the idea of sharing power with the parents and students of their schools; they could welcome open dialogue about, and implementation of, new ideas.

What is at stake in the school voucher debate is having our attention diverted from the real issue of providing every student in Utah with an exemplary education. What parents deserve is not vouchers, but quality public schools in every neighborhood.

---

* SONIA WOODBURY is executive director of City Academy, a secondary public charter school founded in 2000.