Sociology > Education > Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program
| Topic: |
Sociology > Education |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
07 Nov 2007 08:14:03 AM |
| Object: |
Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program |
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308936,00.html
Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher
Program
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's first
statewide school voucher program that promised tax dollars for private
tuition, no matter how much a family earned or whether kids were in bad
schools.
It was the first voucher election in the U.S. since 2000, when voters in
Michigan and California rejected efforts to subsidize private schools.
Utah, with a conservative electorate, a Republican governor and
GOP-controlled Legislature, was seen nationally as a key test of voter
sentiment for vouchers. But opponents, with millions of dollars from a
national teachers union, persuaded residents to say no.
With 95 percent of 2,237 precincts reporting, 62 percent of voters cast
ballots against the program.
"The problem of voucher supporters is that they never really figured out
what Utah voters would support in advance of passing legislation," said
Brigham Young University political scientist Quin Monson.
"They never really anticipated it would go to the ballot," he said, adding
that lawmakers were "shooting a little too high."
Pre-election public opinion polls indicate widespread opposition to
vouchers, especially in rural areas where often there are no private
schools for hundreds of miles.
Utah's referendum on vouchers was the first in the country since 2000, when
voucher proposals were voted down in Michigan and California. There have
been 10 state referendums on various voucher programs since 1972, according
to the National School Boards Association. Each time vouchers or tuition
tax credits were voted down by an average of 68.6 percent. California,
Michigan and Colorado voters defeated voucher proposals twice.
Voucher critics argued the state shouldn't spend money on private schools
when Utah has the nation's largest class sizes and spends less per student
than any other state. Voucher proponents contended the program would reduce
classes in public schools, give parents a choice which school their child
goes to that's not dictated by where they can afford to live and improve
public schools through competition.
"It's a big relief and it's an expression of support for Utah's schools,"
said Utah Education Association President Kim Campbell, a voucher opponent.
Both sides spent millions in recent months on TV ads. Opposition to
vouchers was primarily funded by teachers unions, with the National
Education Association spending nearly $3.2 million on the campaign against
vouchers.
Overstock.com founder and CEO Patrick Byrne and his family were the primary
financiers behind the pro-voucher commercials, donating more than $2.7
million of the $3.8 million raised by Parents for Choice in Education.
Out-of-state conservative think thanks donated much of the rest.
Doug Holmes, chairman of Parents for Choice in Education, said opponents
used fear to kill vouchers. Prize-winning teachers surrounded by kids
appeared in TV ads warning that the program was flawed and a threat to
public schools.
"Serious people who evaluated the policy -- the governor, the Legislature,
the business community, etc. -- all support this," Holmes said.
Unions "come in with misinformation and scare tactics and scare people into
supporting the status quo even though the status quo is not doing a great
job," he said.
People on both sides of the issue said the referendum's outcome will
influence how vouchers play out in other states.
Voucher programs exist in various forms in about a dozen states. Most are
limited programs, targeted at low-income students in poorly performing
districts or at special needs students. Many conservative lawmakers would
like to see those voucher programs expanded.
Utah is one of the nation's most conservative states and was targeted by
national voucher advocates as a state likely to be receptive to a voucher
program. Voucher groups, primarily funded by the heirs to the Wal-Mart
fortune and the founder of Amway, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
helping to elect pro-voucher candidates to the Utah Legislature. Support
for vouchers got popular Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman through the
Republican Party's caucus system and on the ballot.
Huntsman signed the voucher bill into law but wouldn't tell people how to
vote.
Many conservatives said Huntsman was bowing to public pressure after
surveys repeatedly showed most voters didn't want vouchers. He appeared at
an Oct. 17 news conference that was turned into a pro-voucher ad.
Spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley did not return a message seeking comment on the
election result.
Byrne, who bankrolled most of the pro-voucher campaign, expressed
disappointment with the governor as the votes were counted Tuesday night.
"Once he saw the polls on this referendum he's been pretty much missing in
action," Byrne told KUTV.
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
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| User: "Andrew F. Heil" |
|
| Title: Re: Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program |
07 Nov 2007 08:21:34 AM |
|
|
On Nov 7, 8:14 am, wrote:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308936,00.html
Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher
Program
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's first
statewide school voucher program that promised tax dollars for private
tuition, no matter how much a family earned or whether kids were in bad
schools.
It was the first voucher election in the U.S. since 2000, when voters in
Michigan and California rejected efforts to subsidize private schools.
Utah, with a conservative electorate,
That's an understatement.
Places like Kansas and Georgia are liberal bastions compared to Utah.
.
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| User: "SueDoeCyAnts" |
|
| Title: Re: Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program |
07 Nov 2007 05:31:53 PM |
|
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on Wed 07 Nov 2007 06:21:34a
"Andrew F. Heil" <andrewfheil2@yahoo.com> posted
in news:1194445294.382934.294980@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com:
On Nov 7, 8:14 am, wrote:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308936,00.html
Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide
School Voucher Program
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's
first statewide school voucher program that promised tax
dollars for private tuition, no matter how much a family earned
or whether kids were in bad schools.
It was the first voucher election in the U.S. since 2000, when
voters in Michigan and California rejected efforts to subsidize
private schools.
Utah, with a conservative electorate,
That's an understatement.
Places like Kansas and Georgia are liberal bastions compared to
Utah.
As with all attempts to portray the totality of political world
views along a linear path, there are differences within degrees of
conservatism which cannot be properly stated in simple terms of
greater or lesser. This Utah case offers a good example.
It is proper to call the Utah electorate conservative, but at the
same time Mormons tend to view public institutions much more
favorably than do other conservatives. They send their children
to public schools. This is why they would tend to view any
initiative which would negatively impact the public schools'
funding for the benefit of those who choose to remove their
children from public schools as being a bad thing.
.
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| User: "thomas p." |
|
| Title: Re: Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program |
08 Nov 2007 08:59:45 AM |
|
|
"SueDoeCyAnts" <pseudocy@labb.port5.com> skrev i en meddelelse
news:Xns99E19E002695FOriginaliseThisThief@198.186.190.163...
on Wed 07 Nov 2007 06:21:34a
"Andrew F. Heil" <andrewfheil2@yahoo.com> posted
in news:1194445294.382934.294980@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com:
On Nov 7, 8:14 am, wrote:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308936,00.html
Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide
School Voucher Program
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's
first statewide school voucher program that promised tax
dollars for private tuition, no matter how much a family earned
or whether kids were in bad schools.
It was the first voucher election in the U.S. since 2000, when
voters in Michigan and California rejected efforts to subsidize
private schools.
Utah, with a conservative electorate,
That's an understatement.
Places like Kansas and Georgia are liberal bastions compared to
Utah.
As with all attempts to portray the totality of political world
views along a linear path, there are differences within degrees of
conservatism which cannot be properly stated in simple terms of
greater or lesser. This Utah case offers a good example.
It is proper to call the Utah electorate conservative, but at the
same time Mormons tend to view public institutions much more
favorably than do other conservatives. They send their children
to public schools. This is why they would tend to view any
initiative which would negatively impact the public schools'
funding for the benefit of those who choose to remove their
children from public schools as being a bad thing.
It should also be remembered that the Mormons pretty well dominate public
schools in Utah. Mormons in New York (for example) might support a voucher
program.
.
|
|
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| User: "SueDoeCyAnts" |
|
| Title: Re: Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program |
08 Nov 2007 09:47:24 PM |
|
|
on Thu 08 Nov 2007 06:59:45a
"thomas p." <gudloos@yahoo.com> posted
in news:47335c83$0$2107$edfadb0f@dtext02.news.tele.dk:
"SueDoeCyAnts" <pseudocy@labb.port5.com> skrev i en meddelelse
news:Xns99E19E002695FOriginaliseThisThief@198.186.190.163...
on Wed 07 Nov 2007 06:21:34a
"Andrew F. Heil" <andrewfheil2@yahoo.com> posted
in news:1194445294.382934.294980@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com:
On Nov 7, 8:14 am, wrote:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308936,00.html
Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide
School Voucher Program
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's
first statewide school voucher program that promised tax
dollars for private tuition, no matter how much a family
earned or whether kids were in bad schools.
It was the first voucher election in the U.S. since 2000,
when voters in Michigan and California rejected efforts to
subsidize private schools.
Utah, with a conservative electorate,
That's an understatement.
Places like Kansas and Georgia are liberal bastions compared
to Utah.
As with all attempts to portray the totality of political world
views along a linear path, there are differences within degrees
of conservatism which cannot be properly stated in simple terms
of greater or lesser. This Utah case offers a good example.
It is proper to call the Utah electorate conservative, but at
the same time Mormons tend to view public institutions much
more favorably than do other conservatives. They send their
children to public schools. This is why they would tend to
view any initiative which would negatively impact the public
schools' funding for the benefit of those who choose to remove
their children from public schools as being a bad thing.
It should also be remembered that the Mormons pretty well
dominate public schools in Utah. Mormons in New York (for
example) might support a voucher program.
I cannot speak for New York, but I grew up in Las Vegas, and I
doubt that Mormons there would support a school voucher initiative
either, but then they do excercise a fair amount of control over
Nevada State politics, because they represent a significant
minority of the state's population which turns out in hig numbers
to vote.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide School Voucher Program |
08 Nov 2007 03:41:52 AM |
|
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SueDoeCyAnts <pseudocy@labb.port5.com> wrote:
:|on Wed 07 Nov 2007 06:21:34a
:| "Andrew F. Heil" <andrewfheil2@yahoo.com> posted
:| in news:1194445294.382934.294980@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com:
:|
:|> On Nov 7, 8:14 am, wrote:
:|>> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308936,00.html
:|>>
:|>> Utah Voters Defeat Measure to Create U.S. First Statewide
:|>> School Voucher Program
:|>>
:|>> Wednesday, November 07, 2007
:|>>
:|>> SALT LAKE CITY - Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's
:|>> first statewide school voucher program that promised tax
:|>> dollars for private tuition, no matter how much a family earned
:|>> or whether kids were in bad schools.
:|>>
:|>> It was the first voucher election in the U.S. since 2000, when
:|>> voters in Michigan and California rejected efforts to subsidize
:|>> private schools.
:|>>
:|>> Utah, with a conservative electorate,
:|>
:|> That's an understatement.
:|>
:|> Places like Kansas and Georgia are liberal bastions compared to
:|> Utah.
:|>
:|As with all attempts to portray the totality of political world
:|views along a linear path, there are differences within degrees of
:|conservatism which cannot be properly stated in simple terms of
:|greater or lesser. This Utah case offers a good example.
:|
:|It is proper to call the Utah electorate conservative, but at the
:|same time Mormons tend to view public institutions much more
:|favorably than do other conservatives. They send their children
:|to public schools. This is why they would tend to view any
:|initiative which would negatively impact the public schools'
:|funding for the benefit of those who choose to remove their
:|children from public schools as being a bad thing.
Regardless of the political leanings of a states voters, when voters are
allowed to vote on the issue of vouchers the resutls have been the same.
CURRENT STAUS OF VOUCHER SYSTEMS
:
Voters have rejected ballot initiatives to create voucher systems
STATE PAROCHIAID REFERENDA
STATE YEAR- AGAINST- FOR
New York 1967 72% 28%
Michigan 1970 57% 43%
Nebraska 1970 57% 43%
Oregon 1972 61% 39%
Idaho 1972 57% 43%
Maryland 1972 55% 45%
Maryland 1974 57% 43%
Washington 1975 61% 39%
Missouri 1976 60% 40%
Alaska 1976 54% 46%
Michigan 1978 74% 26%
D C 1981 89% 11%
California 1982 61% 39%
Massachusetts 1982 62% 38%
South Dakota 1986 46% 54%*
Massachusetts 1986 70% 30%
Utah 1988 70% 30%
Oregon 1990 67% 33%
Colorado 1992 67% 33%
California 1993 70% 30%
California 2000 71% 29%
Michigan 2000 69% 31%
Utah 2007 62% 38%
--------------------------------------------------------
* The S Dakota vote was for a bill for funds to purchase books only for
k-12 private religious schools. (Something already found to be
constitutional nationally)
VOTERS IN CALIFORNIA, MICHIGAN OVERWHELMINGLY
REJECT SCHOOL VOUCHERS
http://www.au.org/press/pr118002.htm
The above only mentions Colorado once but do notice the size of the defeat.
Representatives elected to the state legislatures and Congress are suppose
to represent the citizens of their districts.
These defeats at the ballot box, with regards to vouchers, have not been
squeaker ya know 51% to 49%, or 50.5% to 49,5%
Florida, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin have all
passed voucher laws. All have been found unconstitutional by the courts,
with the exception of:
Wisconsin's law, which, according to the People For the American Way
Foundation (PFAWF) is currently "under investigation by the state because
of a complaint filed by PFAWF and the NAACP." 1
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
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