Washington Times

Utah voters consider voucher law

November 5, 2007

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071105/NATION/111050024/1002/NATION

By Valerie Richardson

Utah voters will decide tomorrow whether to enact the nation's most sweeping voucher law after an off-year election slugfest between teachers unions and voucher advocates.

Referendum 1 would offer vouchers of $500 to $3,000, depending on family income, for each student newly enrolled in a private school. The measure has garnered national acclaim from school-choice advocates who say the proposal could usher in a new era in public-school reform.

First, however, Referendum 1 will have to get past the National Education Association, which has staked its reputation on defeating the measure. The NEA, which boasts a perfect record of sinking voucher ballot measures, has dedicated $3 million and its considerable organizational talents to blitzing the measure.

The Referendum 1 forces have their own deep pocket in Patrick Byrne, the Utah-based founder of Overstock.com, who has spent nearly $3 million of his own fortune in support of the measure.

Together, the two sides are expected to spend more than $8.5 million, making it the second-most expensive campaign in state history, trailing only the 2004 governor's race, and easily the most expensive referendum campaign.

So far the anti-voucher forces appear to hold the advantage. A Salt Lake Tribune poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research and released Friday, found the measure trailing 56 percent to 36 percent, with 8 percent undecided.

Camden Hubbard, spokeswoman for Parents for Choice in Education, pointed out that anything can happen in an off-year election, when voter turnout tends to drop and activists can decide the outcome.

"Any election is a numbers game. We have a lot of supporters, and they've very passionate, and it's just a matter of getting them to the polls," Miss Hubbard said.

The survey results mirror a Brigham Young University poll released last month. The lopsided polling should come as no surprise, said Mike Antonucci, director of the Education Intelligence Agency, which monitors teachers unions.

"The 'no' side always has the advantage in ballot-initiative campaigns," Mr. Antonucci said. "But the other problem is that you're not going to find one example of a voucher initiative coming close to passing ... . It's an experiment no matter how you phrase it, and voters tend to be cautious."

The "Say 'No' to Vouchers" campaign received another boost Saturday with a Salt Lake City Tribune editorial against the measure. The Deseret Morning News, the more conservative of Salt Lake City's two major newspapers, took the rare step of issuing no endorsement, saying that its editorial board "could not reach consensus on this issue."

Voucher advocates had hoped the measure would never get to the ballot. In February, Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed the voucher bill into law after the Republican-led Legislature approved it by one vote.

By April, however, the Utah Education Association had gathered enough signatures to force the measure onto the ballot. The campaign has received support from neighboring teachers unions in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming.

Referendum 1's opponents argued that the measure would siphon off money badly needed for public schools. Utah's per-pupil funding ranks among the lowest in the nation, although its student performance regularly ranks among the best.