DON’T SIGN AWAY
YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS!
Say NO to the Referendum Petition
BACKGROUND
In February, the Utah Legislature passed and Governor Jon Huntsman signed into law House Bill 148, the Parent Choice in Education Act. They believe this voucher program will provide valuable options to parents whose children aren’t succeeding in public schools. Equally important to them was a program that would not harm public education, and in fact, benefit public education.
BENEFITS OF PARENTAL CHOICE
1. Give parents more options to find the school that’s BEST for their family.
2. Leave more money for fewer students in the public school system. (a 2004 USU study showed a similar program would save the state over $1 BILLION in 13 years)
3. Make schools more accountable because they’ll have to answer to PARENTS & not just bureaucrats.
WHO’S BEHIND THIS ATTACK?
The aggressive drive to repeal the voucher program is led by the same groups who have always opposed parent-empowering reforms such as charter schools, tuition-tax credits, and performance pay for teachers. These groups include:
- The national teachers union, the NEA
- The Utah affiliate of the national teachers union, the UEA
- The Utah Democratic Party
- Other groups who support the education establishment and the status quo
No one should find this any more surprising than buggy manufacturers opposing Henry Ford.
WHY DO THEY OPPOSE PARENTAL CHOICE?
They say that vouchers will take money from public education.
Let’s take a look: The Legislature appropriated $9.2 million for the voucher program. They also appropriated $3.5 BILLION for public education. The public education system in Utah spends more than twice the amount allocated for vouchers every school day. Not only that, but vouchers allow the state to educate a child at 1/3 the cost of what would be spent on that same child in the public schools.
MAKE NO MISTAKE: THIS IS NOT ABOUT MONEY. IT’S ABOUT THE EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT (DOMINATED BY A BIG UNION) MAINTAINING ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF A MONOPOLY. The $500 million in incremental funding the legislature provided for education this year is not as important as protecting that monopoly.
The Union extends the claim by saying that public dollars should not be used for private institutions. But wait a minute; can food stamps only be used in government grocery stores? Can Medicaid and Medicare benefits only be used in government hospitals? Once again their rhetoric reveals their real interest: retaining control of a monopoly.
WHO SUPPORTS INCREASED PARENTAL CHOICE?
We believe parents, not unions and bureaucrats, should have greater say in the education of our children. And we’re not the only ones – school choice is supported by the likes of Governor Huntsman, President Bush, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Ronald Reagan.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP THIS ATTACK ON PARENTAL CHOICE IN EDUCATION:
- Don’t sign the petition.
- Forward this email to everyone you know.
- Print off this flyer and distribute it in your neighborhood and your kids’ schools. http://www.choiceineducation.org/documents/Anti-PetitionFlyer.pdf
- REPORT ANY PETITION SIGNING ACTIVITIES THAT USE PUBLIC SCHOOL RESOURCES by emailing info@choiceineducation.org or calling (801) 532-1448.
6 comments:
Wow...I didn't know I had no parental rights before HB 148 passed. I'm glad you cleared that up.
Did you even write it or is it taken straight from some lobbying group's talking points?
This legislation was a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Utah's public schools are doing well and are providing options for kids with varying different needs. The legislature in this legislation proposed millions in extra spending to provide choice to parents who want to take their kids out of the successful system. This doesn't sound very conservative to me...it sounds like a complete waste of money. If you want your kids educated in private schools do it on your own dime...not mine.
I'm not a member of the UEA. I am a Democrat but a very libertarian one who supports sound fiscal principles not government solutions to every problem.
People should vote for the referendum to repeal this bad legislation. Lets not waste more taxpayer money on programs that aren't needed.
Hey Jeremy, why not repeal all that money that goes to waste in the public school system? Can you honestly say that all the money is going to the classroom, when at a certain High School in the State the Assistant Vice Principals get a clothing allowance?
Anonymous,
The money going to Utah's public school system isn't being wasted...I know this because I actually have a child being educated by that system right now. She is doing spectacularly well and the school is providing the support, instruction and environment she needs to learn.
Utah's school system spends less money per student than any other in the nation on administration so seriously...whats your real beef? Again we are brought back to the real question. The schools aren't broken so why waste millions of tax payer dollars paying private school tuition? There really isn't any point to it.
You'd think conservatives would have more sense...
Anyone who thinks the system is not broken is either in denial or has never had the experiences with public school I, and most my friends, had. Our experiences were so poor and traumatizing that I will home school my children before sending them to go through the same social hell I did. I want them to be educated not socially engineered. A voucher system may possibly be the only chance we have to send them to a school previous to college.
I watch the public schools take money and flush it on unnecessary expenses and programs that have nothing to do with education and everything to do with social experiments and it makes me want to cry. These schools are doing such a poor job of educating that the colleges have to add more and more remedial classes every year just to teach their students what they should have known when they arrived.
Thank you but one way or another my children will be educated before they are 18 and be able to build on that with the rest of their lives. Vouchers can help us do that and I hope they will pass.
I actually AM a kid being taught in the school system, and vouchers aren't something I like. One thing I have about public school systems is government control. I've seen thousands of government sponsored programmes tried in the educational system, each have failed. They're not about learning, they're about getting in touch with our (the student's) feelings and trying to baby us as if we're idiots. Vouchers is just another government thing that is bound to bring more harm then good.
Speaking as someone who is being severly affected by this, I think that people should vote against it. It doesn't take a village to raise a kid, it takes a parent.
Way to go conservative in Utah!! Don't give up the fight. Get John Stossels report called "Stupid in America" from ABC news. A 20/20 peice which agrees with School Choice advocates. If Utah leads this fight other states will follow. Washington State parents are fed up. Our superintendent just gave himself another raise-- now over $250,000 for our small district-- eventhough our students have the lowest scores in the state!! Doen't say much does it? What ARE we getting for our money. Our mouthpiece here in Washington is the Evergreen Freedom Foundation www.effwa.org A parents rights bible-- everything a parent wants to know about their schools!! Way to go Utah-- don't let the teachers unions win!! We support you!!!
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