Emily is in the House!

It was announced yesterday that Emily Bingham Hollingshead, Cedar City Resident, chairman of the Iron County Democrats, and A contributing member of The Utah Amicus blog, was named Communications Coordinator for the Utah House Democratic Caucus. Emily was the candidate for the Utah Senate District 28 in 2006 and was the Chairman for the 2007 Jefferson Jackson Celebration, the highest grossing Jefferson Jackson event in Utah to date.. Emily owns “Cedar City Sidewalk” a website design and marketing company, specializing in websites for small businesses. She and her husband, Mark, live in Cedar City with their two sons, Sam, 10, and Chas, 15.

Congratulations Emily! Our Democratic House Leadership has made a fantastic choice!

Mark Your Calendar - July 13, 2007

This is the Place! Heritage Park
July 13, 2007

Make History With Utah Democrats

It is my pleasure to report that Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson’s office has confirmed that he will indeed keynote our 2007 Jefferson Jackson Celebration! It is shaping up to be a fabulous weekend for Utah Democrats!

Are you ready?

We are about to kick things into full gear and begin implementing all of the wonderful plans we have made. Our goal is and always has been that we will create the most unique, most fun, and highest revenue-generating fundraiser the Utah Democratic committee has ever seen.

For more information, please visit www.jjutah.com.
Online ticketing begins Monday, June 4.

Emily Hollingshead

Chairman

Jefferson Jackson Celebration 2007

Reflecting

It's an absolutely beautiful day here in Cedar City. I just finished delivering my last set of voucher packets to our PTA representative, who was instrumental in making this whole thing happen. Her early estimates are that we are going to meet a 15 percent benchmark - that is, we gathered more than our 10 percent goal. This is incredible and speaks volumes about how Iron County parents feel about our neighborhood schools.

As I was driving back home and through my neighborhood, I couldn't help but stop and reflect on some of the conversations I had with neighbors and friends. I have received criticism on this blog for my "pollyanna" viewpoint of Iron County's public schools. But I can tell you for certain that many of the people I have spoken to over the last several weeks agree with me - Iron County schools truly are wonderful.

All of the people involved in this effort have one thing in common - we want the very best for our children. For our opponents to say otherwise is wrong. I don't think I saw any "union thugs" out there, and I looked high and low. I agree with a post I read somewhere on the Amicus that the term "Union Thug" is getting kind of old... and it really does not apply to our Iron County effort. In my view, the UEA does not hold any political power here whatsoever. Parents are the involved and active voice - we have an excellent PTA, a fabulous school board, and many parents who are involved and participating in their children's education.

Am I a Pollyana? Perhaps. But I'll tell you, it was heartwarming to see so many Iron County parents advocating for public schools. And contrary to what advocates may tell you, this is NOT a partisan issue. Many many many registered Republicans put their names on the referendum to oppose vouchers. Many whom I spoke to feel that Utah schools do incredible things and achieve excellence in academics with limited resources. By putting their signature on the referendum, these good citizens were standing up for Utah's school children.

Now I'm going to go do something I have not done in a long time. I'm going to go work in my yard, plant some rose bushes, and enjoy this beautiful weather.

Tax dollars taken from public education deserves vote

All Utahns benefit from an excellent public education system. Our youth enter the work force among the most literate and skilled in the world. But to hear Writers Group columnist Joe Baker and other voucher supporters, you would think our education system was a complete failure.

Utah's schools are not a complete failure. Utah - and specifically Southern Utah - has some of the very best public schools around. Furthermore, there is no proof that a private school produces "better results" than a public school.

According to a National Center for Education Statistics study, public school students show little to no difference in performance, and in some areas tend to do better. It is only in head-to-head comparisons where private schools' ability to reject students that don't meet their standards that private schools outperform public schools.

Vouchers are promoted as the solution to overcrowded schools. To relieve this pressure, there would need to be enough affordable private schools in Utah to absorb the demand for private schools that voucher supporters claim exists. But Utah doesn't enjoy a large number of private schools - let alone affordable ones.

A Google search of private schools in Utah shows Cedar City has exactly one private school listed on www.allprivate schools.org. With 16 students (all from out of state) it is a school for "at risk youth." Under the voucher law a school must have at least 40 students to qualify and at least one of the student's parents must live in Utah.

In Washington County, five schools are listed. The majority of these schools are for "at risk teenagers" whose parents live out of the state. There is neither significant demand for private schools in our region nor much capacity to relieve pressure on the public school system.

Baker claims that with vouchers, private schools will be "affordable to all Utah parents." It is not clear whether vouchers will lower the price of a private education enough to entice parents away from public schools, especially when the majority of Utah parents are happy with them.

According to the National Association of Independent Schools, the median tuition for its member private schools is $14,000. The maximum a low-income family could expect to receive under Utah's voucher legislation is $3,000. Assuming Utah's few private schools could approach the national median tuition, it is hard to accept Baker's claim that all parents in Utah could afford to send their children to a private school even if they wanted to.

Polls show an overwhelming majority of Utahns favor placing vouchers on the ballot. They are happy with their local neighborhood schools, and have consistently advocated for improving public education rather than funding private schools with public funds. Many Southern Utah parents have nothing but praise for their public schools, using words like "wonderful" and "excellent" when they describe their children's teachers.

Voucher proponents recently sent out letters telling voters that they "must not sign" the referendum. What do they fear? Why not let the people decide? It's our tax dollars in question, we should be given the opportunity to vote on how we want our tax dollars spent.

Utah spending (per capita) on public school students ranks 51st (below the District of Columbia.) We have a lot of kids to educate with limited resources. Why divert one penny of those precious resources to subsidize an industry that doesn't need and doesn't want the influx of students? Why not do everything we can to support the neighborhood schools that open their doors every day to all of our children?

Those of us who are opposed to using public money for private education have no problem with private schools. But when something affects how our tax dollars are spent and the future of our neighborhood schools, we just want to cast our ballot.

Emily Bingham Hollingshead is a Cedar City resident, a small business owner and a mom to two sons who attend Cedar City public schools.