One of the wealthiest people in Utah is Patrick Byrne, who founded Overstock.com. He is a friend of Betsy DeVos and shares her passion for vouchers. Now, he says, the time is right because she’s in charge.
Byrne funded support for vouchers in a state referendum in 2007, but it was trounced by 62-32%. Blame it on those doggone teachers’ unions. Surely no one in Utah could possibly have opposed vouchers without having their minds controlled by nefarious teachers. And what a powerful union it is: the voucher referendum lost in every county in Utah.
Now Byrne feels the time is right to promote vouchers again, maybe by bypassing those pesky voters.
In light of growing evidence that kids are negatively affected by vouchers, why do people like Byrne and DeVos continue to push them? Are they blinded by ideology? Indifferent to evidence?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Omg…EVIL!
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DeVos and Byrne should probably reserve the domain name “overhype.com” for a site to plug vouchers and school “choice” in general.
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On second thought, maybe I should reserve it and then sell it to them for a big profit.
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The virtual state church of Utah, is the Latter-Day Saints (aka The Mormons). if the church is behind a concept like school vouchers, it will pass. If the church is opposed, then the referendum will not pass. Watch what the LDS leadership supports/opposes.
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The LDS Church does not usually take positions on government policies. And it’s not the “virtual state church.” 40% of Utah’s population is of another faith than LDS. In Salt Lake City, that number is 60%. You really need to do your research before you pontificate. You think you know everything. You don’t.
AND, vouchers have been voted down TWICE in Utah. There’s no need to do it again. It’s an expensive boondoggle. Most likely, Byrne will convince the legislature to put it through.
It’s almost impossible to get a referendum onto the ballot these days. The legislature made many changes after the last voucher referendum in 2006, so now a referendum needs to gather the signatures of 10% of the population from EACH county (there are 29) in order to get on the ballot. No referendum has gotten on the ballot since the last voucher referendum.
And for those of you who think that Jon Huntsman is a “moderate,” he signed the voucher bill when he was governor of Utah. It took the referendum to stop it.
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I don’t know everything. The LDS leadership takes positions on issues sometimes. They sure pushed against the gay marriage in California. I cannot predict the future, but I cannot imagine the state of Utah going for school choice/vouchers.
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The LDS Church only comes out if it’s a moral issue, and, since the 2008 California bit, has refrained from making any comment most of the time.
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I remember when Jeb Bush’s org used to push mandates to require every high school student sit thru an online course.
The (supposed) justification is they wouldn’t know how to work thru an online course unless they were forced to take one.
It was ridiculous on its face but it was swallowed whole:
“And across the country an even more powerful anti-regulation force is at work. The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council has made expanding online learning—unfettered and in all of its forms—one of its priorities. In Florida and several other states, ALEC has quietly but effectively helped mostly Republican lawmakers pass the kinds of laws the online learning companies want—laws that, for instance, require all graduating high school students to complete at least one virtual class. The online learning companies (especially K12 Inc.) work closely with ALEC and friendly politicians to help win their hearts and minds, and in some cases, substantially fatten their campaign coffers.”
I cheered when I went to my son’s course sign up for high school. They had some garbage online course listed to save on foreign language teachers and the school had an editorial note after it- “not recommended”. 🙂
No one has to buy what they’re selling. It’s perfectly reasonable to ignore Jeb Bush and Betsy DeVos in your schools.
They offer bad advice. Reject it. Get better advice. Find someone who values public schools and ask them about online learning. Don’t take counsel from people who oppose the existence of your school. That’s nuts.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/schooled/2017/05/why_online_credit_recovery_courses_are_underregulated_in_many_states.html
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Here is an article from conservative icon George F. Will, about school choice in Utah, from 2007. As Yogi Berra said “It is deja vu, all over again”. see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103102549.html
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Charles,
The people of Utah defeated vouchers overwhelmingly in 2007, despite a George Will’s opinion.
Vouchers lost by 62-38%.
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I know the history. Mr. Will does not have a lot of “pull” with Utah voters, regardless of the fact that Utah is possibly the reddest state of them all. The LDS church has the “pull”.
I have done a project in the Beehive State. Utahans love their public schools. School choice there is “dead on arrival”. I don’t even understand why they want to resurrect it again.
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Surely you have heard that “if there is a Will, there is a way.”
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You’ve “done a project” in Utah? How sweet. How about actually listening to those of us who live here?
While charters are somewhat popular in Utah, private schools have never gotten a big hold here. About 2-3% of Utah students go to private schools. That percentage has held steady for decades.
And Utahns are beginning to wake up to what charters do and do not do. A lot of Utahns I talk to are frustrated by charters. The bloom is off the rose.
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A major reason why private schools haven’t taken hold here is that Utahns have large families, and they can’t afford private school, even if there was a voucher. Utah has had a special needs voucher for about a decade, but the vouchers only apply to schools that have a large percentage of special needs kids, and only one school qualifies.
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I do not follow your reasoning. What does the fact that Utahans have large families, have to do with their dislike of vouchers? If a family has one child, they get one voucher. If they have ten children, they will get ten vouchers.
Why do you think that a voucher in Utah would not meet the tuition costs at Utah private schools?
(from private school review)
Q
There are 176 private schools in Utah, serving 20,783 students. The average private school tuition is $6,633 for elementary schools and $10,589 for high schools (view national tuition averages). The average acceptance rate is 83% (view national acceptance rates). END Q.
If the state brings in vouchers in the amounts of $6,633 and $10,589, then the vouchers will cover the average tuition. (Some schools charge less, some more). Also, some parents will be able to make up the difference, and some private schools may offer full or partial scholarships to enable more Utahans to meet the costs of schools of their choice.
One of my LDS friends has nine(9) children. He and his wife (he only has one wife), have decided to home-school their children.
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Utahns with large families can’t afford private schools, even with vouchers. That’s my point. There is a pretty large home school contingent here, and there are no requirements to home school, so the levels of education are really varied.
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Q Utahns with large families can’t afford private schools, even with vouchers. That’s my point END Q
I am sorry, but I still do not see your point. Here is the math:
The average cost of private school tuition in Utah, is $6,633 for elementary schools and $10,589 for high schools
If the state rebates the tax payments to families, in the amounts specified, the families will receive vouchers of $6,633 for elementary schools and $10,589 for high schools
If in Utah, the families receive vouchers in the amounts of 6,633/10,589 PER CHILD, then the families can afford to pay for the average private school in Utah. The families will receive a voucher for each child. Ten children, ten vouchers, one child, one voucher.
If the families find an average school ,then the voucher will meet the cost of that tuition. If the family selects a school with tuition less than the voucher payment, they can pay (with the voucher) . If the family selects a school with tuition more than the voucher payment, then the voucher will be inadequate to meet the costs.
Some private schools may offer full or partial scholarships, or other financial aid.
Why do you think that families with a large number of children, who receive multiple vouchers in the amount adequate to pay average tuition, will not be able to afford tuition costs at the average Utah private school?
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So, Gates, who relies on critically important data, doesn’t have any interest in disabusing the Dept. of Education about its voucher notions? And, he doesn’t want to use his massive P.R. machine to stop a plan harmful to education? Of course not, because he and Melinda are shameless shills.
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They are blind, yes. They are also mute, deaf, devoid of compassion, of humanity, and the ability to reason beyond profits and/or religious dogma.
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BOYCOTT OVERSTOCK.COM
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I have concluded that the Trump/Repubican/Devos budget for education is about federally authorized discrimination in schooling, at public expense.
Parents are authorized to find ‘education service providers” who may be selected on the basis many factors beyond academics, especially their desire to keep their children from associating with “the Other.” The Other may be unacceptable for reasons of social class, race, religious beliefs, ethnicity, language, “ability” including physical ability, “proper “gender identity, immigrant status, dietary preferences…you name it.
The cover story from DeVos and supporters is not about segregation. The cover story is that federal money should go to the state. The states should have policies that allow federal money to be combined with other funds, with all of these funds following the child, according to a parent’s choice for education.
Education service providers are allowed to compete for the money with little or no regulation. Innovation in education soars. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate criterion for education. The market will meet every need with great efficiency.
Equity? Quality? Who is really choosing whom? None of that matters.
Choice is the anchor in a polite story line for policies designed to make segregated schooling the national norm. Public officials, including DeVos, are not eager to say they really want segregated schooling. Saying that straight up and out load would be politically risky, even if your President says it is OK to be “politically incorrect.”
Segregation is not the only driver of the policy that DeVos and supporters articulate, but it is a powerful one. Of course, if parents want their children to learn about life lessons within a desegregated environment, that too is a choice, but it is also one that DeVos has not supported. She has opposed it visibily by failing to say anything about the value of public schools where desegregation has been long been mandated, even if not achieved.
DeVos pushes this segregationist agenda while pretending it is not a national policy. Consider her responses this week to questions about the budget. Watching or listening to her wiggle through direct questions about the education budget was anything but an example of clarity or courage.
Under DeVos’ view of “choice” it is perfectly fine if education service providers use federal, state, and local funds to discriminate against parents and students in the LGBTQ community and students who should qualify for special education services. Read some of the amazing runarounds she offers to justify blatant discrimination as a federal policy. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/Five-startling-things-Betsy-DeVos–told-Congress.html
Republicans are determined to budget money that will support the religious beliefs of people whom they regard as their “base.” One of the lesser-known education budget items is buried in the Department of Health and Human Services, Family and Youth Services Bureau. It is a planned investment of $277 billion for abstinence-only education….known to be totally ineffective and at odds with the main purpose of program, reducing teen pregnancy. http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/blogs-main/advocates-blog/2802-statement-on-presidents-budget
I spent a little time looking over the justifications for budget cuts, continuations of some funding, and budget increases in USDE. Some of the reasoning is really INcredible. See for yourself at https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget18/justifications/f-ii.pdf
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The last bit of the article is this “The ‘V’ word is not anything special. That’s not what we’re after,” Stephenson said of vouchers. “What we’re after is the right for a parent to choose how and where a child is educated with the tax dollars they’re paying. That’s exactly what Betsy DeVos and President Trump is calling for.”
And for those without children also paying tax dollars, where is their voucher, in the form of a tax refund/rebate? I’m all for public ed, and not vouchers, charters, cyber schools, etc., but seriously, if this is the line the reformers are tossing out now, “the right for a parent to choose how and where a child is educated with the tax dollars they’re paying” then those of us without children, senior citizens, etc. should get a voucher too, to use, perhaps, at Walmart?
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Therlo,
Exactly right. If parents make a consumer choice, those of us whose children are grown and those who have no children should not pay at all.
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For reference, Howard Stephensen sits on at least one charter board, and has real estate dealings with several others. He has it out for public schools. All you have to do in Utah is state his name to a group of teachers, and you will hear the groans. We all know he’s devastating to education. But he keeps being reelected anyway.
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@Therlo: I could not disagree more! I want to live in an educated society. (I have no children, always a sadness for me). I know that spending on education is cost-effective. It is more productive to spend on education for children, than to pay welfare costs for unemployable adults, or to incarcerate adults.
I have no relatives in prison, but I support prisons, so that I can live in a lower-crime society. I support all types of activities with my tax contributions, even though I do not directly benefit from all of them.
I expect no rebate or voucher from the government, because I have no children in public schools. The proverb is trite, but it is nevertheless true. It does take a village to raise a child.
I proudly support the public schools here in Fairfax VA, and statewide. I just wish that all children had the excellent public schools, that we have here in Fairfax. I have always voted for the school-tax and bond issues here.
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