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 The Senate Site said...

. . . and LaVarr's recap in today's Utah Policy Daily:

Wednesday Buzz
Written by LaVarr Webb & Associates

The Tuesday Night Massacre

One of the most expensive political campaigns in Utah history ended in a voucher rout. The massacre occurred statewide, with vouchers losing in all 29 counties.

In a TV interview, voucher campaign principal funder Patrick Byrne said the vote was a statewide IQ test, implying that Utahns were stupid if they didn’t support vouchers. I’d say more stubborn than stupid. Voters made up their minds early, and the consistency of voucher opposition over several months was remarkable given the monumental campaign waged to woo voters.

Among the larger counties, the vote was only close in Utah and Washington. Salt Lake County voters thrashed vouchers 2-1.

Don’t expect the victors to be magnanimous. On the contrary, Democrats and the teachers’ union will take this issue, and the momentum it has created, into the 2008 election. They will go after swing-district Republicans with a vengeance, especially in Salt Lake County. They have an electorate that is educated on this issue, plus they will have a sour national climate for Republicans, giving them their biggest opportunity in a couple of decades to make significant gains in the Legislature.

Republican leaders are going to have to admit to an epic defeat, lick their wounds, do some serious reconnoitering, and gear up for the 2008 battle. It’s going to be a doozy.

Meanwhile, the education problems that vouchers could have helped address still exist. 150,000 new students entering the system. Mediocre education performance by most students, and really bad performance by minority students. A serious funding shortage. And the best chance ever to fundamentally address those challenges lost in a tidal wave of voter opposition.



http://www.utahpolicy.com/

11/07/2007 1:57 PM  

 Observer said...

Don't expect the losers to be magnanimous. On the contrary, expect some powerful Republican legislative leaders to exact revenge on teachers, the UEA, and the State Board of Education.

11/08/2007 6:47 AM  

 Anonymous said...

Oh, come on. Probably every NEA member votes when these referendums come up. When this outstanding showing is compared with the typical malaise-like turnout, of course these referendums go down in defeat. The teachers are way more motivated to vote than the average person and they'll vote as a block.

If these voucher programs were ever actually implemented, it would prove that it's not the lack of money for the schools that are the problem but the bad teachers. The teachers' unions can't allow the vouchers to show them up.

11/08/2007 5:40 PM  

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