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Monday, November 05, 2007Unedited
Audio of the 10/17/07 press conference, beginning to end, unedited.
A few highlights: 1:45 - Speaker Curtis asks citizens to do one simple thing before voting.
posted by The Senate Site at 2:05 PM | Link
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4 Comments:
Tomorrow we will have an important election in Utah. It is crucial for all of us to exercise our right and responsibility to vote. As influential technology and community leaders, we hope you will likewise get involved by encouraging all your colleagues, co-workers and friends and family to vote tomorrow.
Note: Feel free to forward this email as you spread the word.
One issue in particular has caught the attention of the technology community. Vouchers have been the subject of a great deal of debate and advertising. In addition to personal interest in our kids, the technology business community has a vested interest in building a high quality workforce in the State. It will be critical to keeping Utah competitive and increasing opportunity for everyone.
The Utah Technology Council recently brought both sides of the voucher debate together so it could decide if it should support vouchers, oppose vouchers, or do neither. By the time the facts were on the table, it was a pretty obvious choice. The vote by the executive committee was unanimous in support of Vouchers. A membership survey also revealed that a large majority of our membership supported School Vouchers. UTC endorses a vote FOR Referendum #1.
My 5 kids have all gone to public school so in addition to my interest as a taxpayer and a business person, I have a vested interest in improving our public school system for my family. In learning about the issues, I've spoken to teachers and even the lobbyist for the UEA as well as pro-voucher advocates. As a result, I'm convinced of the following:
Because of the unique characteristics of our state, we will never tax our way up to parity with the national average for spending per child. In other words, spending alone will never make our schools great ... or even average. We need to be creative to find other solutions.
Vouchers will save taxpayers money (the math is easy). The $429mm drain that the teachers union claims will be drained from public schools is simply not true. Even the lobbyist admitted as much to me in a private conversation. Yes, there will be a $429mm cost, but there will be a $1.8 billion savings. The net is a very large positive that can (and I believe should) be largely put back to work in schools.
Funding for public education will increase on a per student basis with Vouchers in place (again, easy math).
The quality of public education will increase with a stronger private school system. Utah currently ranks last in the nation in the % of students educated in private schools. There is no competition for students, and that is exactly the way the teachers union wants it to stay.
The following are great resources as you evaluate this issue:
Utahns Can Vote for School Choice Tuesday John Stossel of 20/20 (link: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2007/10/31/utahns_can_vote_for_school_choice_tuesday)
Truth Test: School Voucher Ads Deciphered KSL News report (link: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=1993736)
UTC Public Policy Resource Guide Webpage (link: http://www.utahtechcouncil.org/publicpolicy/index.htm)
I'm obviously convinced vouchers are a good idea. You might not think so. That is Ok. Either way, I encourage you to learn and understand the issues, and then vote.
Respectfully,
Richard R. Nelson
President & CEO
Utah Technology Council
"Evil prevails when good men [and women] do nothing." - Edmund Burke
http://www.affordableprivateschools.com/
"Vouchers will save taxpayers money (the math is easy). The $429mm drain that the teachers union claims will be drained from public schools is simply not true. Even the lobbyist admitted as much to me in a private conversation. Yes, there will be a $429mm cost, but there will be a $1.8 billion savings. The net is a very large positive that can (and I believe should) be largely put back to work in schools."
This is provably untrue. The fiscal analyst does not claim 1.4 billion savings. http://www.schools.utah.gov/law/leg2007/FiscalNoteInput/HB174_VoucherAmendments.pdf
(notice the actual comment at the bottom of pg.1 besides the fact only 3 people switch in yr. 2)
http://elections.utah.gov/Impartial%20Analysis.2007.VIP.pdf
An the 149 pg. USU study used to justify that figure has only survived because it's too boring to dig through. Just read pgs. 5 and 6 and see if you believe their analysis which produces a marginal cost per student of $8675--$2675 more per student than the state spends including all construction, salary, etc.
All of those figures from the USU study were as of 2002-2003.
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