Tribune Editorial
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:03/08/2007 08:22:44 PM MST
It isn't unusual for the Utah Legislature to pass laws contrary to what Utahns say they want. Polls show people want tougher penalties for animal torture; legislators killed the bill. In special session last year, legislators failed to restore dental benefits for Medicaid patients, despite widespread protests.
The list could go on.
Like "mother deafness" in a teenager, constituent-deafness among legislators can be frustrating. This year's voucher law is a notorious example. Polls have consistently shown that Utahns oppose taxes going to private schools. Only one poll in several years showed support approaching 50 percent.
That is one reason to support a referendum to bring the new law before voters. The other is the scope of the law and its potential to divert resources and focus away from public education.
The law just passed, and heedlessly signed by Gov. Jon Huntsman, initiates the nation's first universal voucher system, allowing vouchers for all children not currently enrolled in private school. The Legislative Fiscal Analyst estimates it will cost taxpayers $429 million over its first 13 years.
Its impact is largely unpredictable, yet it will be evaluated only after five years. It represents a major shift in Utah's educational philosophy, which firmly supported public education since before statehood.
Any such sea change, especially one not supported by most of the people it will affect, should be put to a vote.
But the diverse coalition behind a referendum petition to force that vote faces a monumental task. The group has 40 days to collect nearly 92,000 signatures, representing 10 percent of all the votes cast for governor in the most recent general election in 15 of the state's 29 counties. Organizers believe getting enough signatures may be the easy part. If the referendum makes it onto November's ballot, they expect deep-pocketed, out-of-state groups to spend wads of cash to defeat it.
They have reason to worry. Parents for Choice in Education pumped roughly a half-million dollars into last year's election. That outside cash played a major role in the law being passed, by one vote, in the Utah House after being defeated in six previous tries.
Voucher supporters chant the mantra of "choice" in education. Well, voters should have the choice to undo a reckless law foisted on them by legislators and a governor who chose to be deaf to the majority's wishes.
Polls have consistently shown that Utahns oppose taxes going to private schools.
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:03/08/2007 08:22:44 PM MST
It isn't unusual for the Utah Legislature to pass laws contrary to what Utahns say they want. Polls show people want tougher penalties for animal torture; legislators killed the bill. In special session last year, legislators failed to restore dental benefits for Medicaid patients, despite widespread protests.
The list could go on.
Like "mother deafness" in a teenager, constituent-deafness among legislators can be frustrating. This year's voucher law is a notorious example. Polls have consistently shown that Utahns oppose taxes going to private schools. Only one poll in several years showed support approaching 50 percent.
That is one reason to support a referendum to bring the new law before voters. The other is the scope of the law and its potential to divert resources and focus away from public education.
The law just passed, and heedlessly signed by Gov. Jon Huntsman, initiates the nation's first universal voucher system, allowing vouchers for all children not currently enrolled in private school. The Legislative Fiscal Analyst estimates it will cost taxpayers $429 million over its first 13 years.
Its impact is largely unpredictable, yet it will be evaluated only after five years. It represents a major shift in Utah's educational philosophy, which firmly supported public education since before statehood.
Any such sea change, especially one not supported by most of the people it will affect, should be put to a vote.
But the diverse coalition behind a referendum petition to force that vote faces a monumental task. The group has 40 days to collect nearly 92,000 signatures, representing 10 percent of all the votes cast for governor in the most recent general election in 15 of the state's 29 counties. Organizers believe getting enough signatures may be the easy part. If the referendum makes it onto November's ballot, they expect deep-pocketed, out-of-state groups to spend wads of cash to defeat it.
They have reason to worry. Parents for Choice in Education pumped roughly a half-million dollars into last year's election. That outside cash played a major role in the law being passed, by one vote, in the Utah House after being defeated in six previous tries.
Voucher supporters chant the mantra of "choice" in education. Well, voters should have the choice to undo a reckless law foisted on them by legislators and a governor who chose to be deaf to the majority's wishes.
Polls have consistently shown that Utahns oppose taxes going to private schools.
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