Petition drive is on a roll

The first petitions seeking to let the public decide on a private school voucher system started coming in this week, and referendum proponents say it's just the tip of the iceberg.

By Friday, roughly 500 petition packets had come back in the referendum drive, which equates to 10,000 signatures if each list is full.

Vik Arnold, government relations specialist for the Utah Education Association, said he doesn't expect an accurate tally until next week but believes the numbers are just a trickle to what will be coming in soon.

"There just hasn't been enough time yet for our people to get them filled out because they're all over the state. They're now starting to come in," he said. "It's really too early for us to have any kind of a meaningful count."

Earlier this month, leaders of Utahns for Public Schools, an anti-voucher group including the UEA and Utah PTA, applied for a referendum petition that would put vouchers on the ballot during the general election in 2008 in hopes of voting down the voucher law passed by the Utah Legislature this year.

The group must collect more than 92,000 signatures in 40 days to meet the state requirement, but Pat Rusk, spokeswoman for the group, said they are aiming for around 140,000 signatures. The group is now on day 16 of that time line and has about 16,000 petition packets sent out statewide.

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.

Both Jordan and Davis school boards have passed resolutions in support of the petition drive. Granite may pass a resolution next week, and the Salt Lake District Board of Education has taken an official stance against the voucher law.

Jordan board president J. Dale Christensen said the board wanted to jump in the fray because of concerns that the new voucher law is "questionable and not what is best for public education.

"Public education is a hallmark entitlement for the citizens of this great nation. We believe that the money allocated out of public funds to private and parochial schools is questionable at best," he said. "We feel that is inappropriate and not in the best interest of sustaining public education."