Jensen was the keynote speaker at a school-choice conference that resembled a pregame locker-room speech to rally support for tuition tax credits during this year's legislative session, which begins next week.

Education Excellence Utah, a school-choice advocacy group, hosted the conference at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center downtown.

For years, Jensen has worked to expand Milwaukee's voucher system from a small pilot program serving 1,500 low-income students to one that now enrolls nearly 15,000 students at 120 private schools. The program allows low-income students to take the money the state would have spent on their public education to attend private schools instead.

"The first thing we learned is the market works," he said. "Bad schools are being weeded out. . . . Public schools are better off due to private-school choice. Money is saved and now available for public schools across the state."

Foes of vouchers and tuition tax credits argue they drain the best students and precious dollars from public schools.

Jensen was largely preaching to a choir that has been pushing for tax credits for several years. Audience members included tax credit supporters Sens. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, and Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights; Rep. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan; and a dozen other GOP lawmakers.

The conference featured low- income parents who have sent their children to private schools with the help of partial scholarships from Children First Utah, a nonprofit organization that supports tuition tax credits.

Gonzalo Palza said part of the reason Latino students lag behind their white peers is because parents aren't involved. "How do you expect parents to get involved if you don't empower them?" he asked.

rlynn@sltrib.com