So here's a scary Halloween thought for the education establishment. Why not expand the education voucher concept to ALL families and students. Provide a portion of per-student public education funding directly to families, as a scholarship (with proper safeguards), for them to invest in the school (public or private) of their choice.

Let money flow to the students, rather than the institutions. This would really just be a change in nuance, because money follows students to schools, anyway.

But it would give accountability and parental control a big psychological boost. Families would feel they are investing their scholarship money in a particular school, becoming shareholders in that school. It would follow that parents could form a shareholders committee that would hire the principal and serve as a school board of directors. Boo.

---

Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake mayor, he served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. Pignanelli's spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is a Utah state tax commissioner. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.