"From our perspective it seems there are pro-voucher advocates who are convinced they can't win this debate on the merits of the voucher proposal itself, so they are increasingly resorting to misleading deceptive tactics and that's unfortunate," Johnson said. "We have faith in Utah voters that they can look past this thing and the deceptive tactics and really vote in an educated way and that's what we are counting on."

The voucher law, which was approved by the Legislature this past spring, would provide Utah families with a private-school tuition voucher ranging from $500 to $3,000 per student based on the parents' income.

It also would appropriate $9.2 million for mitigation money to hold schools harmless for five years after a student leaves and goes to a private school.

In March Utahns for Public Schools successfully gathered enough signatures for a referendum that would allow Utahns to decide whether they want a voucher program. As a result, the law is now on hold pending a Nov. 6 vote that will determine if the measure will stay on the books.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com