Referendum 1 defeated in every county
Utah voters kill vouchers, UEA looks forward to ‘meaningful’ reform in 2008
On November 6, by a 62 to 38 percent margin, Utah voters said no to the implementation of what would have been the nation’s most comprehensive private school voucher program. In the end, a bill passed by one vote in the Utah House of Representatives was felled by 309,523 votes cast by Utahns who would rather see their tax dollars invested in public schools.
The decisive Election Day defeat came after more than eight months of tireless work by dedicated Utah Education Association members and public school advocates who secured petition signatures to get the measure on the ballot, staffed phone banks, and canvassed their neighborhoods with information about how House Bill 148 – the original voucher bill – would take money away from Utah public schools.
Had it passed, the bill would have provided a $500 to $3,000 taxpayer-funded voucher to parents wishing to enroll their children in a private school. The Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel estimated that, over a 13 year period, the bill would have cost taxpayers $429 million.
“With the eyes of the nation upon us, Utah voters today made history by rejecting the flawed voucher law,” UEA President Kim Campbell said during an Election Day victory party in Salt Lake City. “Utahns have sent a clear message: We believe in our public schools and want them supported. We want to ensure Utah’s future economic development with a highly-educated workforce,” Campbell said. “We want our state resources focused on our public schools in order to meet the needs of all children.”
Campbell said with Referendum 1 behind us, “we look forward to working with Governor Huntsman and the Legislature on an education agenda that will make a real difference in Utah schools, including investing in smaller class sizes to provide for individualized attention, up-to-date materials and technology, and a focus on attracting and retaining quality teachers.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to our tireless teachers, parents, and other volunteers who stood up for children and our public schools,” Campbell said. “We also owe our thanks to the courageous elected officials who spoke out against this flawed law.”
Voucher proponent Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com who poured millions of his personal fortune into the campaign, told a news reporter that he felt the referendum was a “statewide IQ test” and that Utah voters had failed. He also accused Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., who signed the voucher legislation into law, of being “missing in action” after polls showed the referendum would likely be defeated. | full story ...
UEA Convention keynote: Pen is mightier than the sword in Erin Gruwell’s class
By any measure, Erin Gruwell’s early days as a teacher in Long Beach, California were anything but normal.
She didn’t see backpacks as she drove to work, but students “packing heat.” There had been 126 murders in Long Beach following the Los Angeles riots and no one felt particularly safe. Gruwell’s father warned her not to eat any apples at the school. He feared they might have razor blades inside or be laced with strychnine.
Students separated themselves by race, gang affiliation, or just the side of the street they happened to be on.
Once in the classroom at Wilson High School, Gruwell said she found herself dealing with a group of students “who weren’t supposed to make it.” There was a boy whose father had died of AIDS and who believed his “ticket out of town” was to become a famous rap artist. Maria Reyes walked into class with an ankle monitor and a probation officer. Gruwell said Reyes was sporting a black eye and was “ready to rumble.”
Gruwell, whose story was the subject of the critically-acclaimed film, “Freedom Writers,” shared her experiences during the New Educators’ Workshop at the 2007 UEA Convention in Salt Lake City. More than 600 new and experienced teachers attended the event. | full story ...
