Utahns all over the state should be contacting their state representatives and demanding they vote no on HB331, a school voucher bill euphemistically called “scholarships” by Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton.
These “scholarships” have nothing to do with scholarly activity and indeed will lead to less scholarly performance by Utah’s public schools.
Utah voters soundly reject vouchers in 2007 but our paternalistic state legislators who believe they know better than Utah voters continue to push for voucher systems we do not want.
As someone without kids, but who benefited greatly from a public education, I am happy to have my tax dollars support a public school system available to everyone. Make no mistake, this law is not about giving school choice to the poor – it would make what is a free education currently, about a $3,000 per year education given the price difference between the average private school tuition and maximum voucher value.
What family of four living on $54K per year is going to opt to spend $6000 a year for the two kids for tuition?
What will happen is money will be diverted away from the public schools, leaving severely underfunded schools for already struggling poor families. This law has nothing to do with school choice for the poor, and everything to do with giving government handouts to the already well-off so they can choose to send their kids to a private school and get out of paying their share of the tax burden for public schools. What’s next, Rep. Pierucci? Will Utah taxpayers be giving me a voucher to buy a Mercedes since I choose that over riding TRAX?
David Taylor, Salt Lake City
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