FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Leah Barker
801.755.7292
State Board of Education Delays Action on School Choice Law
Salt Lake City, UT — May 3, 2007 — Today the Utah Board of Education delayed adoption of rules for the state’s new school choice program, H.B. 174, which became law on Monday.
“We hope that this delay is not another tactic intended to undermine the school choice law,” said Leah Barker, executive director for Children First Utah and speaking on behalf of Parents for Choice in Education. “School choice became law on Monday, and thousands of families are counting on this program to provide better educational options for their children. Time is of the essence to get the voucher program up and running.”
School choice opponents called for the program to be halted altogether because of a pending referendum against a different bill, H.B. 148. But as Attorney General Mark Shurtleff explained in a legal opinion, H.B. 174 modified and replaced provisions in H.B. 148 that are the core of the school choice program, and the new legislation can easily stand alone as authorization for the program. The referendum effort does not and cannot legally address H.B. 174, so it remains in effect.
“Since the Legislature first passed school choice, some 5,000 parents have contacted us eager to learn how to participate,” said Barker. “They want nothing more than a better education for their children. It is time to put politics behind us and make this program work for Utah parents, children and schools.”
“We are counting on the voucher to give my child the education she needs. I don’t know what we’ll do without it,” said Laura Johnson, a parent eager to participate in the voucher program.
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