School vouchers are unnecessary in Utah

Within the past week, two "My views" have supported a school voucher program for the state of Utah. Many reasons were given in support of the voucher program. Those reasons are based on faulty assumptions and erroneous conclusions.

The first faulty assumption is that Utah public schools are failing; therefore, parents need somewhere else to send their children. Just using the Web site referred to by Joshua Mordecai (Dec. 9), public high schools compare favorably to private high schools in college preparation and academics. Rep. Stuart Adams wrote that Milwaukee schools had nearly half of their students not finishing high school. Utah is consistently in the top five in the nation for high school graduation.

Mr. Mordecai paints a picture of rampant immorality and drug use in Utah schools. My experience as a high school teacher does not bear this out. Society will always have the schools that they demand. Some problems don't stem from the school but from parents who don't support the school's dress or behavior codes.

Another assumption is that public schools just need some competition to improve. Those making that assumption must think that right now teachers in public schools are not giving their best effort and vouchers will spur them on to higher levels. "Competition will lead to excellence" is the mantra of voucher supporters. Their idea of competition is misguided. Would it be OK to take money from business A and give it to business B in order to make business A more competitive? I don't think so, especially if business A was already operating on a bare-bones budget. Furthermore, public schools take any student who shows up on their doorstep regardless of ability. Many private schools screen out students with disabilities, behavior issues and other problems that might impede a student's ability to succeed.

Rep. Adams also brought up the so-called "Dance of the Lemons." In Utah, teacher associations and their agreements with school districts do not hamper the orderly termination of poor teachers. It is pure folly to suggest that vouchers are needed to remedy a situation that doesn't exist. Teachers are keenly aware of the damage that a poor teacher can have on students. They don't want a person teaching who should not be there. Teacher associations only protect due process so that teachers are not dismissed capriciously. The erroneous conclusion that there are a large number of incompetent teachers in Utah is a slap in the face to the dedicated men and women teaching in Utah.