Reader comments
Most high schools in Utah make the U-PASS grade

"A Morning News analysis found the state counted schools with no report card as passing U-PASS. It also misidentified a handful of schools' actual standing in its report."

This is what accountability is? Not. And these are the same people angry that private schools accepting vouchers will have no accountability? Private schools are the only ones accountable, because parents themselves can hold them accountable.

Go vouchers!

The U Pass and the NCLB are both showing the same results - our schools are not meeting the needs of way too many children. That's why I will be voting for vouchers. The parents of those children ought to be able to leave these schools that are failing so many of our children. Why are we ok with wasting our money on a system that is failing the needs of so many children?

Granted, it was a pretty big mistake, but it wasn't like they were trying to hide anything. They acknowledge the mistake and are fixing it. Enough said. It just reemphasizes the fact that the scores follow the money. If the vouchers referendum passes, the west siders and other poor areas won't get much in the way of vouchers because the voucher won't be enough itself to send them to private schools and the divide will just widen.

No private school would be able to pass NCLB standards every year, even when they exclude the special ed and ESL kids that seem to be the cause of the perceived 'failure'.

Vouchers are the wrong direction for our state. What we need to do is focus on the public schools and make those better.

I have only talked to two private school families. Both were against vouchers. They cannot benefit from them since their child already is in the Private school, and it will cause costs to rise as competition for seats in the schools increase.

Then you have all those wonderful people who will profit off building schools in our neighborhoods without parking just like they did with Charter Schools.

Every school I looked up is passing all areas except ESL students. That means almost all of the students that speak English are passing. Yet if a small group (more than 10) of the minority students don't pass the test then the whole school is failing. What a joke!

By the way,

VOUCHERS ARE GOING DOWN!!!!!!

On the contrary "Another Viewpoint." If vouchers pass it will give options to the children in poor areas. They would get a voucher for $3000 to attend the school of THEIR choice, not the neighborhood public school that is failing the grade. The majority of the private schools in Utah don't cost much more than that.

My daughter attends one that costs $3500-3700 per year for all grades K-12. She could not attend the local public school for a number of reasons, one of which was that she was adopted and would have been attending the same schools as some birth siblings.

The point is that it would give parents a choice to find the education that best fits their child. No child learns the same way. Vouchers reduce class size while leaving money in the public ed system. And just like private enterprise, competition raises the standard for all. Parents of schools that are not making the grade can pull their children and find a school that better meets their needs. Sounds like everything gets better for everyone. Better public schools, better private schools. What do you think? I don't think it's a losing proposition. Long live vouchers!!!!!!!

Pro Voucher,

Here in Utah our families are quite large, especially the poor ones. Lets just say a poor family only has two. In order to take advantage of a private school for two kids they are going to be paying out of pocket two or three grand with uniform, transportation, supplies and excess tuition.

Our Tuition rates are quite high here and every school that I checked on had variable rates for K 1-5 and 6-12. I did find a school NewTyme Academy that was the same for the elementary years here in our state.

Pro Voucher,

I don't know where you get the idea that vouchers reduce class size or that the money not used by the child stays at the school. Both are incorrect. In Utah the state funds our Public schools based on enrollment October 1st. Children moving in after that date are unfunded. If your child was there on October first and then leaves the next day to a Private school then what Voucher supporters actually say would be true.

If enrollment drops, the schools simply combine classes/grades where they can because the funds we do pay out for our Public schools aren't sufficient to cover all the mandates we have. Having just been laid off from a Charter school, I know this to be true. I had eleven kids in my class, and I needed twenty-five or very well close to it to retain my employment.

Pro Voucher,

I still don't see how Vouchers would be a win-win situation. They have a high cost to them. Consider the East side public schools. A few had to be closed the past five years because it was more cost effective than keeping them open. If a couple dozen were to leave from the remaining ones we'd have to close another school.

Then consider what the cost would be if the school chosen does not meet the parents expectations. The school closes and the students are sent back to the public system without funds to educate them. The likelihood this will happen is pretty high when looking at how the Voucher program was designed to be set up. There were few safeguards with only the requirement that back-ground checks must be performed and an audit after five years be performed. We audit our Public schools several times a year for different things to make sure things are going correctly and that children's needs are met.

Perhaps Vouchers are a win-win in your state. But here in Utah, Vouchers are a losing proposition for our children.

Why does Utah have to be the guinea pig/trial state for the voucher system. Let the other Intermountain states try it first? Incidentally allthese states have refused to pass the voucher system. Doesn't this give us a clue that maybe there is a hidden problem with the system!!!!
Many of the private schools I know have a tuition that is much higher the the voucher system would pay for, then if a parent wants to send their children to this school they would still have to pay much more money for what may or may not work for them. Not all private schools are the same quality.