An Example Of Intellectual Honesty In The Bloghive Followed By An Anti-UEA Screed
UPDATE 10/20/2007: It looks like David at Pursuit of Liberty has come to much the same conclusion as Paramaphil and I. A vote against Referendum 1 makes more sense than a vote in favor of fiscal irresponsibility and poor implementation of a voucher program.
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Paramaphil over at Green Jello has had a change of heart on vouchers after what seems to be a lot of study and consideration. I agree with his hopes and concerns about the future of school choice. I think it will be possible to develop some form of school choice in the future that isn’t as blatantly unfair as the current plan and that is more fiscally viable as well.
Paramaphil’s defection from the pro-voucher camp is a good event to bring up another topic. Voucher supporters have resorted to ad hominem attacks on me and other voucher opponents associating us with the teachers’ union. Not everyone who disagrees with HB148 is a UEA stooge. Some of us are just interested bloggers who see a bad plan and are opposed to it. I’m glad UEA has played such an active role in working to defeat this voucher plan but I have to admit that I’m still not a big fan of the union. I think there are many things UEA has done to deserve the bitterness with which it is viewed by many small government activists. Their opposition to merit pay and several other clearly needed reforms is harmful to our schools and needs to be beaten down. I just want the record to be clear that my distaste for HB148 doesn’t make me a big fan of UEA’s tendency to sometimes act in its own best interests instead of the interests of the children our public school system is tasked with teaching.
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I have never been a fan of UEA or NEA. Without them, however, we wouldn’t have a chance to defeat the private school voucher plan. This is the first popular referendum in Utah since the 1970s (initiatives are different). The majority of people are not being represented by the legislature, and without a big organization there is no way to get anything on the ballot.
Comment by rmwarnick — October 19, 2007 @ 8:31 am
Jeremy,
It’s helpful for me to know that you “agree with [Pramaphil’s] hopes and concerns about the future of school choice. I think it will be possible to develop some form of school choice in the future” and it’s ironic and somewhat embarrassing to admit that in all the discussions we’ve had here and at Simple Utah Mormon Politics, I never thought about the one important point that Green Jello brings up. Let me attempt to rephrase it for my benefit–Despite the fact that current private school students are not allowed to use vouchers, after 13 years there will NO LONGER BE any such students, so by then ALL students will be able to use vouchers to go to a public school. This is why, then, after year 13 it becomes an effective net cost to the state of Utah.
You already disabused one of my false notions over on SUMP (about the fact that the legislature DID NOT earmark money saved back to the public schools). Now I’ve seen the light on another issue.
Stay tuned for another of my changes of direction at Simple Utah Mormon Politics! I plan to call it “Voting for Vouchers with My Nose Plugged”
Comment by Frank Staheli — October 19, 2007 @ 10:23 am
Frank,
I think you’ve restated the argument correctly.
School choice isn’t going to go away. Utahns have been having this argument for more than 20 years now and the debate will continue even if voters eliminate the current plan in the referendum election. Voting against HB148 doesn’t have to be the end of the school choice discussion but it is probably the best thing to do for our state. This plan contains more flaws than it does benefits and needs to go.
Comment by Jeremy Manning — October 19, 2007 @ 11:54 am
I’m glad, Jeremy… and for the record, I don’t think of you as a supporter of UEA just because you’re against vouchers. I understand the argument against vouchers… it’s a new tax, and one that some feel will be inneficiently and inequitably distributed. I guess my pro-stance is more about, Let’s Try It. We gotta try something!!! We gotta change things up. That having been said, if someone could come up with a better scenario that would achieve the same, what I feel would be positive affects, I’d vote against this bill in a second in favor of a better one. I just don’t see anyone trying anything new again if this gets thrown out.
Comment by nosurfgirl — October 19, 2007 @ 9:31 pm