Stories from the campaign: From vouchers to vultures and everything in between
As with any high profile campaign, there are moments of despair and humor. The Referendum 1 battle was no exception.
UEA members and staff across the state shared some of their funny and positive experiences following the November 6 victory against vouchers.
Voucher Dating Service?
Trudy Henderson, a member in the Davis Education Association, was overseeing a phone-banking operation at UEA Headquarters when she noticed one of the callers waving her arms frantically. Apparently, during the course of the conversation, the gentleman on the other end of the line had asked the phone-banker for her e-mail address and said, “There are a lot of single LDS dances,” he told her. “Would you like to meet me?”
Ice Cream and Cash
Many staff members at the UEA Building were stunned and grateful when they learned that their colleagues at the National Education Association Headquarters in Washington, D.C. had personally donated $23,570 to support Utah’s anti-voucher campaign. The contributions came during an ice cream social sponsored by NEA Executive Director John Wilson.
Vouchers and Vultures
When NEA State Director Jesse DeHay’s daughter picked up his grandchild at school, the conversation turned to the events of the day. “I went to vote with Dad,” the youngster told mom, “and we voted to keep vultures out of schools.”
Time to Thank an Educator?
Granite UniServ Director Nikki Peterson saw this bumper sticker at a Utahns for Public Schools “honk and wave”: If your butt looks good, thank a physical educator.
‘Thank You for Loving Our Kids’
Granite UniServ Director Star Orullian was calling undecided voters about Referendum 1 when she received this comment from a woman on her call list: “Thank you for being a teacher and thank you for loving our kids.” The woman then promised to talk to her children about voting against vouchers.
[Editor’s Note: On Election Day 2007, Overstock.com’s Patrick Byrne said he felt Referendum 1 was a statewide IQ test and that the people of Utah had failed. Tom Edwards, a counselor at Grand County Middle School in Moab, wrote the following letter to express his feelings about Byrne’s comments.]
An Open Letter to Patrick Byrne re: School Vouchers
November 9, 2007
This past week the private school voucher bill was soundly defeated by Utah voters in every county of the state, by an average margin of 2-to-1. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Patrick Byrne, the chief executive of Overstock.com who financially backed the Utah pro-voucher effort to the tune of approximately $3 million, said the referendum was a “statewide IQ test” that the people of Utah failed.
Perhaps Mr. Byrne is right; perhaps we’re not the brightest bulbs in the box. On the other hand, how bright do you have to be to invest $3 million of your own money in a failed effort? Didn’t he know that 96% of Utah’s children go to PUBLIC schools, that 23 of Utah’s 29 counties don’t even HAVE a private school, that many of Utah’s children don’t even live within hundreds of miles of one? Doesn’t he know that for years the people of Utah have repeatedly asked the Legislature and Governor to properly fund PUBLIC education?
Perhaps Mr. Byrne is right; maybe the people of Utah are just dumb enough, and proud enough, to support their local schools even though Utah education is the least-funded per-pupil in the nation. Maybe the people of Utah are just dumb enough to support their local teachers because they know how hard those teachers work for their children.
The more I think about it, maybe there’s something that Mr. Byrne, and for that matter the Legislature and the Governor, don’t understand. If they don’t seem to value public education, we the people of Utah, do. We’re proud of our local schools, even though they’re shamefully underfunded. Before we facilitate alternatives to public education, before we complain about what a poor job public education is doing, let’s work together to fund public education properly.
Tom Edwards
Moab, Utah