Middle Market Deals and how to buy, sell and raise capital from $5 to $500 million

Utah faces a referendum on November 6 regarding vouchers for private school education.  The actual language for the ballot from the Voter Information Pamplet is as follows:

In February 2007, the Utah Legislature passed H.B. 148, Education Vouchers. This bill will take effect only if approved by voters. The bill:

• Establishes a scholarship program for:

• qualifying school-age children who newly enroll in eligible private schools; and

• lower income school-age children who continue their enrollment in eligible private schools;

• Provides for scholarships within that program of $500 to $3,000, depending on family size and income, increasing those scholarship amounts in future years; and

• Allows school districts to retain some per-student funding for scholarship students who transfer to private schools.

Are you for or against H.B. 148 taking effect?

I will vote yes. 

I've come to believe that vouchers are important for continuing Utah's economic expansion and that vouchers will HELP public schools.

First, the reason I believe that vouchers are important for continuing Utah's economic expansion is that we need more people to move to Utah in order to continue our economic growth.  Anyone considering a move to Utah will evaluate Utah's education system.  In this context, a researcher will quickly realize that Utah's per-pupil spending is the lowest in the country.  While I don't think this is a fair measure of the output of our educational system (test scores suggest we're better than average), I do think that it hangs a giant question mark over our schools, discouraging people from moving to Utah.  This is especially important for the technology industry where knowledge workers will place a high value on the education for their children.

Vouchers won't fix per-pupil spending (though it will help), but it will help foster a broader private school community in Utah, giving hope to people considering a move to Utah.   On average, I understand that about 10% of students in the country attend private school.  In Utah, the percentage is only about 4%.  The voucher program will help increase that number, giving more students an opportunity to attend private school, increasing the breadth of private school offerings.

With respect to the second reason, I think the voucher program will help public schools on three planes.  First, it will marginally increase per-pupil spending by taking from public education (only in the long run) less than the average per-pupil spending, thereby allowing the state to spend more for each student in the classroom.  This will translate into better teacher/student ratios and higher wages for educators.  

A second benefit to public schools will be that more parents will take their struggling students out of public school and put them in private schools.  Relatively few of the students who are thriving in public education will move to private school, but students who struggle with language, socialization, behavior and other problems and who as a result are not well served by public education will be the first students out the door, allowing the public schools to do what they do best: educate the broad range of students who thrive in the public school system.

Finally, the increased competition between the public and private systems should raise the level of education broadly in our state, including in the public school system.  To the extent that in the long run, funding for public schools will be tied to the number of students attending, (in the short run this is not true--public school funding will not be impacted at all by vouchers for several years) it will create incentives for schools to improve their performance.

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge supporter of public education.  I attended public schools (10 years in Utah) and sent my son to public schools in Utah and believe that we were well served.  But that doesn't mean that the public school system is best for all students.

Furthermore, I believe that public school funding should be increased.  I would gladly pay more in tax to support increased funding for public schools.  In my mind, more money for public schools and vouchers go together hand in glove.  There aren't enough people who agree with me to actually get more funding for public schools.  Vouchers will almost magically create more money for each pupil in public schools and all of Utah's children will benefit.

To join the effort, please visit Choice In Eduaction.