Referendum 1 in Utah- What People Are Saying About School Choice Vouchers

Utahans all want the best quality education for our children, but disagree dramatically about whether Referendum 1 will facilitate or deter from that objective. Though it's hard to avoid the 30 second commercials and yard signs, voters who want to accurately understand the issues need more than sound bites. Below you will find more *substantive arguments for and against the Referendum 1, without wading through the irrelevant websites about other referendums.

Here's the abridged context. In February 2007, the Utah Legislature passed and Governor Jon Huntsman signed two bills into law (House Bill 148 and 174), creating a voucher program that gives parents with children in public schools between $500 and $3000 toward private school tuition. Soon after, Utahns for Public Schools gathered enough signatures to file a referendum and are urging voters to repeal the program before it starts.

One last word- it was helpful to me to take 5 minutes verbalize my initial thoughts about key questions and priorities before I started researching. It helped me to more clearly discern and note the arguments that I found relevant.

Text of The Parent Choice in Education Act
Impartial legislative summary of Referendum 1

Primary Websites, For and Against
http://www.utahnsforpublicschools.org/about/ads/index.php
-Includes commercials, fact sheets, research, and voting pledge.
http://www.votefor1.com/
-Includes commercials, fact sheets, research, yard signs, and voting locations.


Supplemental Websites, For and Against
Choice in Education FAQs
NAACP
Friedman Foundation
Utah Education Association
Utah Amicus
Wall Street Journal

Extended Media and Debates
Cost of School Vouchers (1:58)
Hinckley Institute of Politics Debate (2 files)
KSL Debate, Editorial, and Truth Test (3 files)
Oreo Analogy Extended (6:55)
Public Teachers for Referendum 1 (2:13)
Spending "public" money on "private" endeavors (3:30)
Vouchers by the Numbers (10:00)

*In this context, "substantive" does not mean accurate, consistent, principle-based, or even logical. It means there's more material. Let the reader judge the validity of the statements, arguments, and conclusions.