Salt Lake salvo

Education: Utah's surprise victory for school choice could ignite the voucher movement | Mark Bergin

When the Utah House of Representatives passed a bill for universal school vouchers Feb. 1, state PTA president Carmen Snow informed reporters, "I just want to cry." The razor-thin 38-37 vote provoked such melancholy among proponents of monopolized public education nationwide.

Meanwhile, advocates for school choice celebrated what could prove a landmark victory. The bill is expected to cruise past Utah's Republican-controlled Senate and GOP governor Jon Huntsman Jr. (pictured), establishing the country's first statewide voucher program for all students.

Under the "Parents Choice in Education Act," any public-school student could receive between $500 and $3,000 depending on family income to help pay for a switch to private-school tuition. Among students already enrolled in private schools, only those with low incomes would be eligible for the program. But all new kindergartners would qualify, opening the voucher system to everyone by 2020.