Webb: The two juniors, Jon and Scott, are both personable, reasonable, moderate politicians with fine names and great hair. But one Grand Canyon-size gulf divides them that reveals their philosophical underpinnings and provides voters a real choice.
Jon Huntsman Jr. supports school choice, particularly a modest, but significant, pilot project testing the validity of tuition tax credits. Scott Matheson Jr. by contrast, has adopted the teachers' union position on tuition tax credits: over my cold, dead body.
Huntsman is by no means a one-note candidate on education. He strongly supports increased funding for education, better pay for teachers and has laid out an economic development plan to "grow the pie," generating more and better jobs and ultimately more money for schools. But while he supports increased funding, he is also willing to look at real education reform and innovation.
Matheson also wants more money for schools, but while his education plan fiddles and tinkers, it is essentially business as usual, throwing more money at the status quo. And he doesn't really outline where he's going to get the money.
Both are friends of public education and both recognize that the vast majority of Utah's children will be educated in public schools. But here's the difference: Vote for Matheson if you want the teachers' union running public education. Vote for Huntsman if you want some real reform and innovation.
I personally support tuition tax credits precisely because public schools will benefit. Public schools are the future of our state. Private schools do well because of marketplace discipline. If they don't perform, parents simply go elsewhere. Parents having to plunk down cold, hard cash creates the dynamics and incentives for success.
Public schools need some of that discipline. Tuition tax credits will benefit public schools in two ways: First, more money. Taking a child out of public schools but leaving behind a portion of that child's funding results in more money per pupil in public schools. That basic fact is indisputable. Second, allowing families a modicum of choice adds elements of competition and market behavior that would be healthy for public schools.
I have faith in our public schools. I'm confident the system can educate our young people so they can survive and thrive in the tough, competitive, global environment out there. A modest pilot project testing the validity of tuition tax credits should not be a threat to the education establishment. If UEA leaders are convinced it will fail, then they have nothing to worry about. I think their real worry is that it will succeed.
To eliminate concerns about wealthy families fleeing public schools, limit the pilot project to low-income families. But don't doom the pilot to failure with unfair restrictions. School choice programs are gaining momentum all over the country. It's time Utah joined the parade. We need a governor with an open mind.
Pignanelli: My father attended West High and Judge Memorial. A graduate of Catholic institutions and a public school teacher for more than 20 years, my mother recently retired as principal of a small religious school. The first eight years of education for my sisters and me were under the strict tutelage of Irish nuns at St. Vincent's in Murray (we still have bruises). Thus, my family has over half a century of experience with private schooling and we oppose tax credits and vouchers.
LaVarr and his fellow "voucherites" have warped their minds with the ingestion of so much free-market tripe. They want to hammer the square peg of competition into the round hole of a public education system dedicated to egalitarian objectives — an impossible task.
Credits and vouchers will not improve public schools and the 97 percent of Utah's children who attend them. Experience and studies from other states (i.e., Illinois and Virginia) have conclusively determined such government incentives will only lavish tax breaks on wealthy parents who can afford tuition. Lower and middle-income families have limited capacity to participate. If the number of pupils in private schools were to double overnight in Utah, no monetary savings would accrue because the remaining 94 percent of students still need buildings, teachers, etc. Credits and vouchers will drain tax dollars from the public system that is constitutionally mandated to provide a quality education to all children (as verified by a recent Price Waterhouse Coopers study).
LaVarr and his buddies conveniently ignore the polling data: Utahns do not want government subsidies of non-public education. Other states have more private schools available because of religious constituents. LDS parents in Utah can satisfy similar needs through the extensive seminary program.
As with other extremists oblivious to reality, the credit and voucher cohort is a small but vocal force within Republican ranks. All the gubernatorial candidates paid homage to them with laissez-faire education statements — excluding Gov. Olene Walker who was attacked for her veto of a limited voucher program.
This issue is no longer advantageous for Jon Huntsman Jr. The benefit he received from appealing to voucherites ended at the primary election, explaining the astute mention of — but no detailed plan for —"market forces" in his current education proposal. Scott Matheson Jr. has an impressive education platform that articulates creative ideas to advance needed reform. His wise hard-line against vouchers complements a focus on school choice through charter schools and other programs. Matheson clearly understands 97 percent of Utah parents have already made a decision on this matter. Private schools are appropriate for families who choose so, but not at the expense of Utah children.
Matheson can convert many by contrasting his sound beliefs with the threat emanating from LaVarr's ideological playmates.
Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A recent candidate for Salt Lake mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House Minority Leader. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.