I am very happy to see the defeat of school vouchers. I see it as a way to prohibit the privatization of education in our State. I strongly believe in the ability of the public schools in Utah to educate our children. Key to the success of public or private schools is the involvement of a child’s parents. It is for that reason that the Utah public schools are able to achieve so much from while being so poorly funded.
I found this excerpt from Wednesday’s Salt Lake Tribune interesting:
Voucher supporter Overstock.com chief executive Patrick Byrne – who bankrolled the voucher effort – called the referendum a “statewide IQ test” that Utahns failed.
“They don’t care enough about their kids. They care an awful lot about this system, this bureaucracy, but they don’t care enough about their kids to think outside the box,” Byrne said.
I say this to Mr. Byrne: The people of Utah care deeply about their kids. As a member of the majority of the state who does not support vouchers I can honestly say that I voted that way because I care deeply about my child. I want my daughter to go to the highest quality public school. If for some reason I feel compelled to place my daughter in private school I am willing to do so of my own expense, without asking a cashed strapped system for some sort of welfare check. Mr Byrne: show me compelling evidence that the people of this state don’t care about their children.