"I am not going to underestimate parents for one second," said Leah Barker, spokeswoman for Parents for Choice in Education. "We have put up the very best fight that we can considering that we don't have that built-in infrastructure through the public school system. ... I'm so proud of what we've done here."

But both sides agree the determining factor is going to be who shows up to vote.

"We knew coming into this that it was going to be all about voter turnout — it's going be about who's most motivated to get out and vote," Barker said. "We hope that in the end parents will illustrate with this vote their true frustrations and wanting an alternative and option."

Voucher critics say they don't want money going from cash-strapped Utah public schools into the private system. They also say that not all Utahns will have access to the vouchers and a number of counties throughout the state have no private schools. And since the highest voucher amount would only be $3,000, lower-income families would be hard-pressed to come up with the difference, critics say — making the voucher program something only higher-income families could take advantage of.

But voucher proponents say competition will only make public schools better and will provide more options for students. They also say low-income families will be helped the most.

Barker said Children First Utah, a charity organization that awards private school scholarships to low-income families, gives out hundreds of scholarships to families in poverty each year. Those awards average only around $1,600 a student but year after year those families have found ways to make up the difference, she said.

Last year, Children First awarded 360 scholarships to families that had an average income of $24,488 a year.

Voucher advocates on Friday also launched a new Web site that provides parents throughout the state with school pricing and mapping features that allow parents to comparison shop any private schools in their neighborhood.

AffordablePrivateSchools.com lets users sort schools by price, city, name, school size, classroom size and 15 other variables.

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