Over two-thirds of Utahns say they would sign a petition that would allow voters to overturn the state's new school voucher system.

In a new Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV, 70 percent of those surveyed said they would most likely sign the petition. And 55 percent said they would vote against vouchers.

"We have always believed the majority of people don't want vouchers, and the more they understand them the more that will be true," said Pat Rusk, spokeswoman for Utahns for Public Schools and former Utah Education Association president.

The voucher law, referred to as the Parents for Choice in Education Act, provides Utah families with a private school tuition voucher ranging from $500 to $3,000 per student attending a private school, based on parents' income. But opponents, including Utahns for Public Schools, don't want state funding going to private schools.

The poll of 418 Utahns, conducted March 7 and 8, has a 5 percent margin of error.

Last week leaders from the newly formed Utahns for Public Schools applied for a referendum petition that could put the final decision on vouchers into the hands of voters during the general election in 2008, in the hopes of voting the law down.

Even so, Rep. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, who was the sponsor of the voucher bill, said that once the public has a better understanding of what the bill actually does, many of those who are currently opposed to it will most likely warm up to the idea.

"A lot of people don't understand exactly what the bill does," Urquhart said. "As we get closer to a referendum vote, the details will be flushed out — when people learn the specifics of legislation that was passed, they get more comfortable with it."

But Utahns for Public Schools are banking on just the opposite and said that as the public starts to further understand the specifics in the bill the numbers of Utahns in opposition will grow.

About 17,000 petitions went out this week, and Utahns for Public Schools has 40 days to gather more than 92,000 signatures. Rusk said there has been an overwhelming response and petitions have already started coming back in.

But this week some lawmakers said the school voucher law would remain in effect even if a referendum against the measure succeeds and voters reject the law, since an amendment bill that wasn't targeted would remain on the books.

Lawmakers said the amendment bill, HB174, could stand alone, since the "heart and soul" of the voucher bill is also written in the amendment.

Voucher opponents disagree, saying it would be impossible to implement a voucher program with the fragments of another bill that boosts funding for the program.

"I think it's an attempt not to allow the people to have a voice on this because (voucher supporters) know it will be voted down," Rusk said.

Leaders said that matter would most likely be decided by the courts.

"This is going to be the most interesting public policy debate in the in state of Utah in the past 10 years," said Ric Cantrell, chief deputy of the Utah Senate.

For more information about the referendum petitions, visit www.utahnsforpublicschools.org.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com