Rough road yet for vouchers

State education leaders say there could be a rocky road ahead for the nation's most comprehensive voucher bill, which was signed into law earlier this week by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

After finally winning a seven-year battle on the hill, proponents of the Parent Choice in Education Act are celebrating while others are mulling legal action to thwart the voucher law.

"I do know of different groups both in and out of state who are considering taking legal action," said Vik Arnold, government relations specialist for the Utah Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.

He said the Utah Public Education Coalition is currently "reviewing legal strategies and options." The coalition includes the Utah PTA, School Boards Association, Association of School Superintendents, Classified Employees Association and the State Office of Education.

"We have always believed it's unconstitutional," said Carol Lear, director of school law and legislation for the State Office of Education. "We believe there are federal issues related to previous Supreme Court cases and we believe there are issues under the state constitution."

But Elisa Clements Peterson, executive director of Parents for Choice in Education, said the group anticipates litigation but is confident the law will withstand a court challenge.

"Frankly, it's just part of the other side's playbook," Peterson said. "I don't think there has been a voucher law in the country that has not been challenged."

Parents for Choice plans to meet with the state attorney general in the near future to discuss defending the law, which creates the most wide-ranging voucher program in the nation.

The new law will provide Utah parents a private school tuition voucher ranging from $500 to $3,000 per student, scaled to income based on who qualifies for federal reduced-price school lunch. No other state has a voucher system that reaches as many income levels as Utah's, and the bill came with a $9.2 million price tag.

Utah State Office of Education leaders also said now that the proposal is law, they have to meet the timelines provided in the measure, and some question whether it can be done.

Lear said though she doesn't see the State Board of Education as being an appropriate plaintiff, it would be no surprise to see families who currently have children in private schools, suing over "blatant discrimination" because their child would not be eligible for the voucher since they were already enrolled in a private school.

Moreover, she said students in remote parts of state who don't have access to private schools or who maybe just could not afford them, could have a case.