Guest Opinion: âUtah Fits Allâ intentionally mislabeled and misleading
by Deborah Gatrell
Make it make sense! After the proposed âHope Scholarshipâ voucher crashed and burned in the 2022 Utah legislature, Rep Pierucci is back with an even worse proposal this year. House Bill 215, a âUtah Fits All voucherâ scheme, is intentionally mislabeled as âFunding For Teacher Salaries and Optional Educational Opportunities.â This proposal hands out piles of tax payer cash to an independent contractorr to administer a voucher program with no meaningful oversight by the Utah School Board of Education.
Where to start? First, there is no legitimate justification for further fragmenting the educational options available in Utah â this is wasteful! Parents have lots of choices. Open enrollment and special permits within and between districts are wonderful. Charter options abound. Parents can already homeschool. Many already utilize private school options as well....
The proposal also intentionally dodges requirements in the Utah Constitution. The billâs requirement that USBE hire an independent contractor to manage the program only makes sense when you realize the state constitution specifically prohibits public money being spent on religious schools, which many private schools are. The voucher bill language also explicitly prohibits the State Board of Education from assessing any program or outcome associated with the voucher scheme â the program manager has free reign. This is puzzling since Article X of the Utah Constitution states âThe general control and supervision of the public education system shall be vested in a State Board of Education....â
Contact your Legislators and tell them to vote NO on House Bill 215. Ask them to put the money in the WPU instead so each district can put the money to best use meeting local needs, whether thatâs teacher pay or Full-Day Kindergarten, bus driver benefits or part-time custodians, and so on. (Read More)
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