Media Center
Harm done
Salt Lake Tribune, 03/10/2010
A roadblock too far: Legislature and citizen initiatives
Salt Lake Tribune, 03/05/2010
Public education: Reject 1% Solution
Salt Lake Tribune, 03/05/2010
Legislative session may end with bad news for education
KSL.com, 03/04/2010
Utah won't get Race to the Top money for schools this round
Salt Lake Tribune, 03/04/2010
FAST FACT:
The proportion of Utah public school 8th graders who scored at the highest two levels in mathematics on national assessment tests increased by 36% between 1992 and 2005.
Background on Referendum 1
In 2007, by one vote in the House of Representatives, the Utah Legislature passed the first statewide, universal voucher law in the country. Knowing that the public had consistently rejected the idea of vouchers to address the education needs of Utah students, Utahns for Public Schools felt that voters should have a say in whether this controversial experiment took effect. Through the remarkable efforts of volunteers across the state, UTPS gathered a sufficient number of signatures to "refer" the program to a vote of the people. The voucher proposal became "Referendum 1" on the November 2007 ballot and could not be implemented unless approved by voters.
From that point on, UTPS worked to educate voters about the problems with the flawed voucher law and why it was wrong for Utah. On November 6th, Utah voters soundly rejected Referendum 1 62% to 38%.
Read the KSL editorial opposing Referendum 1 here.
Read more about the campaign against Referendum 1 below.
Utah's voucher law is fundamentally flawed
State legislators have passed a voucher bill with too many loopholes, unanswered questions and next to no accountability for private voucher schools. Because there is no oversight, private schools are not required to be accredited and can hire teachers who don't hold a college degree or a state teaching license. Furthermore, private voucher schools don't have to meet the same coursework or attendance standards that public schools must meet.
Utahns need to invest in our own public schools
96% of Utah's school age children attend public schools. Yet, Utah has failed to make the investments necessary to provide every child with a quality education. Today, Utah class sizes are the largest in the nation. Utah also ranks dead last in the nation in spending per student. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on private schools, we need to invest more in the public schools that teach the majority of our children.
Vouchers are a false choice for most Utah families
For too many Utah families vouchers don't offer a real choice. More than half of Utah's counties have NO private schools at all. The average private school tuition is almost $8,000 a year. The average statewide voucher is estimated to be only about $2,000. That means that for a family with four children, the additional $24,000 in tuition puts private school completely out of reach.