Utah's Referendum 1

Since Brian has done every other post you've seen, I, Steph, am attempting my first blog entry EVER! (Which may illustrate how passionate I get about politics. I can probably be friends with a democrat any other time of the year, but when it's time to vote I admit, I get even more opinionated.) Since this is my first post, I wanted it to look nice with a picture, but I couldn't find one in a hurry. That may be a good thing, because I probably would've had a difficult time figuring out how to post it among all the words.

Onto to it! There's much buzz about Referendum 1, as to be expected with an issue that affects so many and takes to heart the education system of the state.

The thing I'm struggling with is the reason(s) people are giving in favor of the bill. While I readily admit that a lot of the advertisements on t.v. and some editorials 'against' were very poorly written, and make those responsible look uneducated, they are on the right track with their vote (they just may not be able to clearly tell you why), so I am going to tell you why we are voting 'AGAINST':

• Most Utah families, regardless of this bill, CANNOT afford private school. We feel we represent the majority of Utah families - middle or upper middle class - which makes us qualified to make that statement. The private school we would send our kids to if we could afford it costs almost $4000 per year per student. Do you know how much money we would get from the voucher system? Maybe $1000 per student. Are you kidding me? Maybe we could afford it if we chose our favorite child, and that one got to go. Nope, not even then.
• We already have choices of where to take our kids to school. I really cringe every time I hear this argument in favor of the vouchers. We personally choose to take our first grader to another school within our district but outside our ordinary boundaries and appreciate that choice. You can take your kids to private school, should you be able to afford it, you can take your kids to charter schools (publicly funded - tax dollars follow your student), and you can take your kids to a different public school thanks to 'open enrollment'. The real choice parents need to make regarding their children's education is to BE INVOLVED.
• We do not believe that tax dollars will be well spent trying to give the lowest income families an opportunity to attend private schools, where the most wealthy already enroll their kids, and leave the middle class where they've always been. This new bill doesn't benefit many people. Better use would be to put the money toward new infrastructure (not to say 'forget education', but the west side of Salt Lake valley is hurting). Or give it to me and I'll diversify in safe and high yielding investments. Best use would be to put it toward public education, where EVERYONE benefits, regardless of income.
• You wanna talk $$$? Check this out - during the voucher program's first year, tax dollars spent will be approximately 5.5 million - not a whole lot compared to the current public education budget. BUT over the course of the next 13 years, $429 million! That's a lot of millions. I'd like to see what difference that could make in our public schools! Definitely sounds like a means to smaller class sizes, better pay for teachers, more resources for students. And don't tell me that the 'remainder of funds' (tax dollars left in the public school system when a student uses voucher for private school, ya' know, the Oreos) is going to increase public school funding either, because a) it's a projected amount of anywhere between 2.4 million and 11.5 million for the first year - again, not a whole lot compared to the current public education budget, and b) guess what happens after that student has been gone from the public school for five years. Bye-bye 'remainder of funds' - the school's budget is redrawn to reflect current enrollment. Interesting.
• How about class size? No matter how many take advantage of the vouchers, it won't make a dent in our public school classroom size. Due to limited funding, less than 1% of eligible students could receive a voucher in 2008. Not to mention the fact that not all private schools will accept and/ or be eligible for vouchers - another limitation that affects how many eligible students will actually take advantage.

Bottom line, at least DO YOUR HOMEWORK before heading to the polls. If you don't feel very well informed of this (or any) issue, you shouldn't vote on it. And don't be emotional, be logical.

KSL's editorial echos our opinions quite well. For those who think they support vouchers based on their October 17 'truth in advertising' report, they were attempting to objectively illustrate truths and falsehoods in advertisements airing 'for' and 'against' the voucher bill. For some it was misconstrued as KSL being in favor of vouchers. This other article clears the air.

For other good reading, I recommend the Voter Info Pamphlet (should have received it in the mail).

Other sites used for gathering info: PCE, Utah Charter Schools.

Happy voting - November 6th.

PS. There's lots of other stuff going on, and it all deserves to be blogged, so we'll catch up very soon - with PICTURES!