Private schools are too expensive, they say, and poor and minority families won't be able to pay the difference between tuition and vouchers. Private schools don't provide free bus rides to school, and poor and minority families won't be able to transport their kids to school.
I'm not sure where these narrow-minded views of poor and minority families stem from.
I grew up in a poor minority family. My single mother was a school teacher in Puerto Rico who was willing to do whatever it took for the sake of her children. Unless you have lived in poverty, it's often difficult to imagine the desperation and frustration a family faces when they see their children failing in school, their only hope for a brighter future.
I am the director of Children First Utah, a scholarship program that provides tuition assistance for children in poor families to attend private school. Half of the applicants are minorities. The average income of scholarship families is under $25,000. The scholarships pay half of private school tuition up to $1,800 per year.
Last year I helped 375 children attend a school that met their needs. Most years I have more than 1,700 families on a waiting list that I can't serve and my marketing budget is zero.
Every parent who applies for a scholarship from Children First Utah knows that they will have to spend about $2,000 (average private school tuition in Utah is $3,800) and be responsible for transportation and food. And I can't even keep up with a quarter of the demand.
Low-income and minority families in Utah who support the voucher program are driven by their understanding of the value of a quality education for all children. They, too, would prefer a thriving public school system but can no longer afford to wait for the ever-promised and long-delayed improvements in public education. Their chance to offer their children a quality education is today.
These moms and dads are desperate for a better option for their kids and are willing to go out and find it. They often work multiple jobs, clean bathrooms at their kids' schools and make do with little for themselves. These parents share what is common among all of us. They want what is best for their kids, and they are willing to work hard to provide that.
Since the Legislature passed vouchers, I have collected more than 4,000 applications from parents who want to improve their children's education. Not one of them is from a rich, white family whose kids are thriving in public schools.
The only thing I can say about people who make disingenuous claims is that they don't understand the reality of poverty. I'll assume it isn't racism or classism but lack of knowledge that leads them to think poorly of disadvantaged families.
School choice through the Children First Utah scholarship program has offered thousands of families in this state access to an education their neighborhood school could not provide. Choice has given kids the opportunity to pull from underachievement to above-average achievement.
Kids who couldn't read are now reading well. Kids who couldn't do math are now great at it. Children who were becoming discouraged and apathetic with school are now enthusiastic and excited about learning.
Choice has given low-income and minority families in Utah hope that one day their children can graduate from high school and attend college.
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* LEAH BARKER is executive director of Children First Utah, a nonprofit organization offering children from low-income families tuition assistance to private schools.
