Vouchers lead to interference

There's a lot of discussion in education circles about public versus private schools. Public schools are worried that some kind of voucher program such as the one introduced in HB340 by state Rep. Brad Dee would suck money from the already strapped education tax dollars — a reasonable concern since Utah is dead last in per pupil spending. Parents sending their children to private schools argue they deserve state assistance with private school tuition because they are paying taxes for public schools that they don't use.

It seems to me that parents who support a voucher system might want to think again. The moment the state of Utah begins to hand out vouchers to help pay private school tuition, private schools will be indebted to state government for that support. In my experience that means, at some future date, the state government (including those legislators now supporting vouchers) will be unable to resist the temptation to interfere with private school agendas. This is exactly the same problem Utah is facing with the No Child Left Behind regulations. The feds say, "We gave you money. You don't follow our rules, and the money stops." Is that really what the parents of private school students want?

Janice Voorhies

West Jordan