Education — is it partisan or personal?

Webb: Education is clearly the defining issue of the 2008 election campaign, especially for legislative seats. Numerous candidates were inspired (or recruited) to run for office because of education vouchers and related issues. Some Republicans are taking on pro-voucher Republicans in their own party.

Many Democrats believe the education issue gives them an advantage, and they hope to make the most significant legislative gains in many years. They expect several Republican kills in swing districts.

But not so fast. Education has been the Republican Legislature's No. 1 priority for the last three years, and lawmakers have provided historic levels of funding, sacrificing other state programs. Democrats say they want yet more to reduce class sizes and raise teacher salaries. But that will require massive tax increases. Most other areas of state government, except programs with mandated increases like Medicaid and Corrections, have been cut to the bone.

What's more, most Democrats who are so-called champions of public education have only one solution: Toss more money at it. Keep doing the same old things, maintain the status quo, but just give them more money. What did someone say about the definition of insanity? We've been doing the same old things decade after decade and things are deteriorating, not improving.

Democrats point cheerfully to our very average test scores. The dirty little secret is that, given Utah's demographics, we should be doing far better. Our white, middle-class students perform far below their national peers. And minority populations are even worse, comparably.

Young people are not being trained for the jobs that exist in our high-tech, knowledge economy. College retention rates are a disaster.

I don't think Utah voters want more of the same — only with higher taxes. Republicans are committed to spending as much money as possible for class-size reduction and teacher salaries. But good Republican candidates also want reform. They want to extend the school year so teachers can be paid more like other professionals. They want differential pay to get the best teachers for math and science, and incentives for excellent teachers. They want more parental involvement and more control at the school level. They want more opportunities in charter schools and innovative learning.

If you want the status quo — at a higher cost — vote for Democrats. If you want a system that prepares students for today's world, vote Republican.