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ABC's of Vouchers
Home > ABCs
Sutherland Institute takes its role seriously to be an independent voice providing accurate, fact-based information to Utahns regarding education reform. Given the amount of misinformation concerning the State's current voucher law, the Institute has spent a significant amount of time researching and collecting data it believes will be valuable for Utahns considering the merits of a voucher system.
| Myths vs. Facts |
Are Private Schools Diverse?
Myth: Private schools are only attended by upper-class white students.Fact: Utah's private schools are as broadly diverse as its public schools, and more diverse in many cases.
Are Private Schools Accountable?
Myth: Private schools have almost no accountability to taxpayers. Fact: Private schools participating in the voucher program benefit from multiple layers of accountability.
Are Private Schools Affordable?
Myth: Private schools in Utah are unaffordable.
Fact: Utah's school voucher program brings private schools into reach for low-income families.
Are Public School Students Better Citizens?
Myth: We need our public schools to properly socialize children. Fact: Private schools have demonstrated a greater ability to build and graduate better citizens than their public school counterparts.
Do Vouchers Promote Creaming?
Myth: Vouchers will allow private schools to "cream" the best public school students into their programs.Fact: Milwaukee students with the lowest standardized test scores in both reading and math were those who applied for vouchers.
Do Vouchers Improve Performance?
Myth: The evidence on the effectiveness of vouchers is mixed and inconclusive.Fact: Vouchers work everywhere they have been tried for those who have needed them the most.
Are Public Schools More Parent-Friendly?
Myth: There is greater parental involvement in public schools.
Fact: Parents who use a voucher are more satisfied with their private schools than parents who choose public schools.
Is There a Private School Near Me?
Myth: Private schools aren't available to the majority of Utah's children. Fact: Private schools are available to serve 85% of Utah's school-aged students.
Do Private Schools Promote Intolerance?
Myth: Private schools promote intolerance.Fact: The long-term experiences of other states provide evidence that Utah's school voucher program will help its next generation become more tolerant, charitable, and educated voters.
Is the Voucher Program Too Expensive?
Myth: The voucher program will cost the state too much.Fact: The Office of the State Legislative Fiscal Analyst found that the new school voucher program would be $1.073 billion less expensive than the public school system.
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| Voucher Publications |
Vouchers, Vows, and Vexations
This research examines many of Utah's past, major reforms that now shed light on the current debate over school vouchers. Based on Utah's long historical record, the new voucher policy shares many familiar characteristics with early reforms.
What Utah's History Teaches Us About Vouchers: Part 1
From 1847 to 1868 the "education identity" of Utah was distinctly religious in its motivations and orientations, private and familial in its control, and broadly supportive of educational advances throughout the community.
What Utah's History Teaches Us About Vouchers: Part 3
The new Utah State Constitution set the tone for the state's education identity throughout the decades between statehood and the advent of World War II. A "free" education became the opportunity of every state resident.
What Utah's History Teaches Us About Vouchers: Part 5
While both "family" and "public education" are nowhere to be found in the literal text of our U.S. Constitution, the Court has found the existence of a very fundamental right of parents to control the upbringing and education of their children.
What Utah's History Teaches Us About Vouchers: Part 6
A lasting education identity for Utah will push us evermore toward a "seamless" approach to education -- an educational environment, sustained by law, economy, and culture, that will allow Utah's families to move freely across the spectrum of educational opportunities that best serves the needs of their children.
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| Other Resources |
The Utah Voucher Program Primer
Sutherland's PowerPoint presentation shows that the new school voucher program is easy to understand, easy to use, easy to defend, and gives Utah's neediest families a boost while holding participating private schools accountable.
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