Rep. Carl Wimmer and his Patrick Henry Caucus are proposing that the state reject the $101 million one-time federal stimulus funding, which would save an estimated 1,400 to 1,800 teaching and other school employee jobs, so Utah schools will be less beholden to and dependent upon the federal government, as it should be.
But if they were really serious about state control and financing public education, they would also propose a plan to save those jobs with state money. Two years ago, when the residents of the state put the kibosh on vouchers, the Legislature replaced our graduated tax system with a single-rate tax system, which benefited the wealthy more than the voucher system would have, and which is taking an estimated $150 million to $200 million directly out of public-school funding each year. Rep. Wimmer would make me a believer if he and his cronies would reverse the single-rate tax and give that money back to the state's public education fund.
Fred Ash
Sandy