I VOTED!

It's election day for a pretty low-key election in my neck of the woods. Really, there are two vacancies to fill in the West Valley City Council, one vacancy for the Granger/Hunter Water Improvement District, and that is about it for the ballot. However, the election day popularity has skyrocketed in the last six months over an education-based issue that appears on the ballot only because a small group of people challenged our State Legislature's law making practice. The result of their work is --- VOTE -- for or against -- CITIZEN'S STATE REFERENDUM NUMBER 1 -- (otherwise known as the school VOUCHERS referendum). This issue alone has resulted in droves of folks flocking to the polls to:

• Cast a vote (for or against) a solution to Utah's public education woes through state-funded scholarship monies for students to enroll in private schools.
  

(I arrived at my designated polling place only to find a 35 minute wait to cast my three votes on the ballot.)

In my opinion, referendum #1 poses yet another effort to dismantle (not improve) an already struggling public education system. It's about widening the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots". I am the first to argue how archaic our public education system is -- I am all for school reform. However, I don't support privatization of education (using state funds, no less). I believe public education is an opportunity equalizer -- a equitable system for teaching, learning, and presenting options and opportunities for and to all students. When society begins to think that this entitlement needs to be separated or sorted out -- we lose equal and equitable opportunities for the masses.

I am hoping that the middle-Americans, responsible and thoughtful thinkers in Utah, rise up and vote against referendum #1. I also hope that in the next 3-10 years, we [education leaders, business and industry folks, and parents] can take some serious time to look at school reform. We just can't continue to teach the I-Pod generation with our blackboard/whiteboard technology.