Voucher suits awaited

Will voters repeal Utah's controversial private school voucher law? Will another voucher law take effect at the end of this month that would render a voter repeal moot?

Even recent legal opinions on those questions can't quell the speculation on the future of school vouchers. There is but one prediction that either side of the always contentious debate can make with certainty: See you in court.

"I think the likelihood of a lawsuit is very high and ultimately that issue is clearly a legal decision that the courts will have to resolve," Kim Burningham, president of the State Board of Education, said.

As county clerks verify the 131,000 signatures on petitions seeking a voter repeal of Utah's controversial voucher law, insiders are awaiting the next move by the Utah State Board of Education, whose members have generally opposed school vouchers in the past.

If enough signatures are verified for the referendum, then the law will be put on hold until the public votes — that will be decided on April 30.

Then it would be up to the state board to decide at its May 3 meeting if an amendment bill, which sailed through the Legislature last session, has what it takes to hold the law in place.

The law targeted for repeal is HB148, referred to as the Parent Choice in Education Act. The law 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. It also appropriates $9.2 million to offset any financial impact school districts may experience for five years after a student leaves and goes to a private school.

But critics of the law say the voucher program shifts public money to private schools, and last month Utahns for Public Schools, an anti-voucher group, filed for a referendum to let voters either repeal or keep the voucher program. The group was required to collect 92,000 signatures for a referendum but turned in more than131,000 this week.

However, voucher supporters tucked an ace in their sleeve the last night of the legislative session by passing an amendment to the voucher law, HB174. The bill was described as simply giving the State Office of Education an additional $100,000 to administer the voucher program and require teachers at schools where voucher students are enrolled to have background checks.

But it also contained the language of the original voucher bill but without the $9.2 million that was key to winning the votes needed to pass a voucher law after years of falling short.

And now the attorney general has issued an opinion saying the amendment, which is not targeted by the referendum, could hold the voucher law intact since it is similar to the original bill.