Reader comments
Voucher foe in 'lion's den'?

As an educator, I wouldn't be opposed to vouchers if I saw they allowed us to focus on what is best for ALL children. However, private schools do not have to take special needs children. Private schools do not have to hire certified teachers. Private schools are not required to take the same year-end tests required of public schools. I strongly support the right of private schools to do what they believe is best for their students. I also support the right of parents to send their children to the school that best meets their educational needs, but not with public money.

I agree with anti-voucher unions that religion should not be brought into this debate. It has no place! Too bad their view only goes one way since their biggest supporters - the Utah Democrat Party -- has called voucher supporters "anti-Mormon" and "segregationist." I wonder why the Deseret News fails to mention these points in the article?

We already have public dollars going to private schools through grants in colleges. I bet 70% of students at BYU have used grants which are public funds. I support vouchers because I believe parents should have the choice regarding their child's education - not the school system. I truely feel that some competition in the system would raise the bar across the education system. I do not understand why the UEA is so afraid of vouchers when the schools are already bursting at the seams. By the way, I have children the the public school system. I plan to keep them in the public schools and still support vouchers.

Shouldn't parents have the final say regarding how their children should be educated? We should trust parents to make the right decision for their own children's educational needs - whether it is a public or private education.

Yes, parents should have a choice and they currently DO have a choice. But my choice is NOT to fund childrens PRIVATE school tuition with MY tax dollars. Public School is just that, PUBLIC, so tax dollars should be spent to fund and maintain the institution, but tax dollars should NOT be spent to fund private FOR PROFIT educational institutions.

No honest person could misconstrue early church leaders comments to support vouchers! Their whole opposition was to funding of schools by tax dollars. They knew that the government strings would follow. That is EXACTLY what vouchers does to private schools!

Mero, etc., are hoping few people look deeply at what he said and just assume the LDS Church supports vouchers. They wish the Church would create a school system, so they wouldn't have to be involved in the issues or schools anymore. It really is laziness on voucher proponent's part.

Mero's assertion that Mormons should not support public schools because they might lose their culture is poppycock. Since there is a seminary building adjacent to every junior high and high school, this would seem to indicate there is not happening. By the way, in urban areas, without the seminary program, the underfunded public school system would have even more problems meeting student needs because the students WHOSE PARENTS CHOOSE to have them participate in seminary on released time helps reduce class size a bit during each day.
The voucher proponents are getting more and more desperate. Trying to bring the church into it and sending people like Eyre to suggest the UEA would punush supporters is ridiculous. Last time I checked, no one looked over my shoulder when I cast a ballot. Can if they want to, because I am definitely voting no. But it is becaused I have always fundamentally opposed using public funds for private schools,despite having attended both.

Choice is available with the systems we already have. The assertion that vouchers will provide more choice is a fallacy. Private schools choose who they will admit; that is their right. That right should end when they accept public money, they should accept any student who wants to attend. This will not happen and is why the idea of increased choice is illusory.

In the coming ten years we will have an additional 145,000 students to educate, over and above the 550,000 we already have. The cost to the state (taxpayers) to educate these kids in the public system is now $ 7,500 each. The cost to the state (taxpayers) to educate these kids in the private system is a voucher of $ 500 to $ 2,500. The more kids we can educate with a voucher, the more money the state will have to spend on the kids who remain in the public system. So, if you love public schools and desire for more funding per pupil, support vouchers!

We send both my children to a private school. We like the environment for them, it is safer, the class sizes are smaller, they follow a very strict educational program, which has been established as quality. We like that the teachers of every grade know the names of all the children, it is a nice place for our kids to be. Additionally, both our kids performed very well on the SATs, with our 2nd grader performing at a 10th grade level in reading, math and science. I do not care about vouchers, we fortunately can afford the $1,000 a month for this private school, it has been one of our best investments, no question. I just wish more people had the opportunity so send their kids to private schools. Our private school is simply better than the public alternative, in every way we deem important. If vouchers don't work, then I would personally like to see a tax break for lower income families with children in private schools. A good education will do more for a child's future, economic potential, and benefit our country more than anything else we can do for them in their young lives. It is unfortunate we cannot trust the government to educate our kids effectively, but it is a fact. There is very little governments can do better than the private sector, we see it everyday.

Can someone please tell me the answer to this question? The weighted pupil unit is aproxx $5500.00 per student. If up to $3000.00 is the limit of private school vouchers that leaves the rest to public schools to either change the weighted pupil unit up or to maintain programs that might have otherwise been cut since there will be less crowded classrooms. My taxes go to pay for my childrens education, just as other peoples taxes go to pay for thier children a certain portion comes from people with no children in the system, but isn't it fair that some of everyones money go to their own children whether to private or public schools? I have been told that the money will remain in the school system only a few years and then will be gone? Where will it go? Isn't smaller class loads one of the things teachers want? My other concern is some children will not thrive in the private school as parents find it difficult to manitain the commute on their own etc. and the students trickle back to public schools. This flux will be very hard for the system to manage without some pretty nasty bumps in the road. Thanks to all for the education I am about to get.

Can someone please tell me the answer to this question? The weighted pupil unit is aproxx $5500.00 per student. If up to $3000.00 is the limit of private school vouchers that leaves the rest to public schools to either change the weighted pupil unit up or to maintain programs that might have otherwise been cut since there will be less crowded classrooms. My taxes go to pay for my childrens education, just as other peoples taxes go to pay for thier children a certain portion comes from people with no children in the system, but isn't it fair that some of everyones money go to their own children whether to private or public schools? I have been told that the money will remain in the school system only a few years and then will be gone? Where will it go? Isn't smaller class loads one of the things teachers want? My other concern is some children will not thrive in the private school as parents find it difficult to manitain the commute on their own etc. and the students trickle back to public schools. This flux will be very hard for the system to manage without some pretty nasty bumps in the road. Thanks to all for the education I am about to get.

Jay you are wrong. You are telling me a private school will say to a student, we don't want your $5,000 or whatever a year it costs to attend. No way. That's as ridiculous as a comment like: Wal-mart won't allow all people to enter thier store. They don't want everyone making them more rich. See, you just don't understand that money talks. You don't understand private industry. It is the public schools who don't want the lesser students. I read it all the time. Complaints about minorities bringing down their No child left behind scores, and troubled kids who are disturbances in class that make it hard. These kids need private industry. Private Industry won't complain (and won't have any reason to) about any of the crap the public schools complain about and despise them. They will welcome thier voucher-guaranteed! And the student will benefit.

I am a teacher and I support vouchers. After reading through the legislation, here's what I can see:

1. For five years public schools retain the funding for those students who choose to go to private schools. Doesn't that increase the per pupil expenditure b/c the public school has the $$ but not the student?

2. Private schools who choose to accept vouchers must comply with state-mandated testing procedures...so, there is some "public" accountability.

3. Caron-Smith scholarships are designed for special needs students to take advantage of in private schools.

3. If private schools accept voucher students, they must disclose their accreditation and each teacher's credentials to the parents. Here's the great thing about choice in education...if the parents aren't comfortable with the level of certification, they can CHOOSE to send their kids elsewhere. However, in a private school, "bad" teachers are let go. In public schools they are shuffled from one school to the next b/c they have tenure. Ask any kid, parent or honest teacher and they can all tell you who the "bad" teachers are.

As a teacher, it's frustrating to put my heart and soul into my job, and get paid the same as the teacher next to me who does nothing.

I am voting FOR vouchers...and did I mention that I am a teacher?

You want proof of what I'm talking about: see what dyc wrote: "private schools do not have to take special needs children" They don't have to, but they will want to, as opposed to dyc and the public school system.

Ron S.,

The fact that your 2nd grader reads at a 10th grade level is not due to private schooling--it is because you helped him/her to tap the potential which is inherent in all human beings before school even started. Whenever private schools tout test scores as a reason for existence I have to laugh. Of course most of their scores are going to be better--they have highly motivated parents as clients! The real trick is to take all students, both unmotivated and motivated and help them suceed. Private schools will do no more for our society than public schools currently are doing. As a matter of fact, if I were a private schooler I would be against vouchers because it will turn private schools into what you've all been running from in the first place--a dangerous place full of real ideas and real people. The issue of safety is only in your head. There is danger everywhere we look--just depends which day and where it decides to raise its ugly head.

It is a myth that most parents pay enough in taxes to pay for their children's education in the public schools. It takes a public investment of tax dollars from those with no children and those whose children are grown and out of school.

If tax money is used to fund private for profit voucher schools the public deserves accountability for the way their money is spent. The voucher law as written requires very little accountability.
Voucher schools will have......
1)NO thorough annual audit requirements for the first five years
2)NO public financial reporting requirements (GRAMA)
3)NO Core Curriculum requirements. Anything can be taught or not taught.
4)NO teacher training/licensing requirements
5)NO school accreditation requirements
6)NO required days or hours of instruction
7)NO uniform testing requirements
8 NO required protections of, or access to records

Public school have all these accountabilities. With so little accountability required of voucher schools, isn�t there a risk new schools will spring up to take advantage of our tax dollars and make a profit at the expense of a quality education for our children?

The taxpayers of Utah deserve accountability for the use of their money and the education of their children! The voucher law is a law that subjects our children to an experiment without critical safeguards, and takes scarce money away from public schools.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS PUBLIC MONEY
PRIVATE SCHOOLS PRIVATE MONEY

As a parent of elementary children I feel I am the one who can best determine where to educate my child. The WHOLE idea behind vouchers is to empower parents to look after the best interests of their children's education. I am confident that parents will look into both options - public and private (that is if they are given the CHOICE) and make the decision that best meets their childs acedemic needs. Vouchers will help give parents MORE options.

Additonally, we are already giving public money to private school, i.e. grants. Using public money in private institutions is nothing new.

LET PARENTS CHOOSE WHERE THEIR CHILDREN CAN BEST BE EDUCATED.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS=TAXPAYER DOLLARS=MY MONEY

PRIVATE SCHOOLS=TAXPAYER DOLLARS+MY MONEY=MY MONEY

So, what's the problem here? Why is it so difficult to grasp the voucher concept, that parents can decide where their "taxpayer dollars" end up, whether public, or private?

I sense a lot of fearmongering on the part of the anti-voucher crowd who doesn't seem to understand how private schools are run. It's consumer driven. If private schools hired scum of the earth non-certified dregs, nobody would put their kids in that private school. Therefore, they hire highly qualified certified/non-certified teachers that will help attract more "consumers," and they all keep their jobs.

As for the concern about days/hours, again, if a private school isn't cutting it, nobody would go there and they would be shut down.

All the info about accreditation and licensure of teachers has to be disclosed to parents prior to beginning, so they can decide whether or not to send their kids there.

The bottom line for this whole debate is what's best for the kids. Concerning the voucher issue, teacher's unions and administrators are not looking out for the kids, they're looking out for #1.

I have yet to see any valid argument as to why vouchers should not be allowed. Vote yes for vouchers and increase competition.

Lynne,

It seems you saying private schools are turning out illiterates with no future. Unless you have a child in a private school you are not qualified to enter this debate. My child has had five years of private school and from personal experience I can tell you all of your arguments against private schools are simply based on rumor. Private schools are accountable to parents. Public schools in Utah are accountable to no one. I should know something about public schools. That's where I teach. Try to fire me.