By Callie Buys
A Supreme Court case exploring the constitutionality of vouchers used towards private religious school tuition has given Utah lawmakers, parents and teachers renewed reason to consider the issue.
The Court heard arguments Wednesday to decide whether a voucher program in Cleveland crosses the line between church and state.
Local parents and educators worry more about the possibility of a similar voucher plan in Utah than about whether the vouchers should be used at a parochial school.
'I''m not really in favor of school vouchers at all,' said Kathy Templeman, a counselor at Springville High School.
'I don''t see any difference between religious private schools and non-religious private schools,' she said.
Shelly Crockett, a Salt Lake County parent with children in public and private schools, supports vouchers in both religious and non-religious private schools.
A bill in the Utah legislature proposed by Senator Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, would provide tax credits for contributions made to a scholarship organization that would give tuition grants for a student to attend a private school.
The bill, S.B. 69, would also provide tax credits for amounts paid for private school tuition in a student''s behalf.
'I don''t see vouchers happening anytime soon,' said Crockett. 'Granted, I would love to see it happen, because we could use it right now. Even though our children are in private school, we still pay taxes to support our local public school.'
While vouchers would help defray the costs of a private school education, they would not cover the full tuition for most private schools, said Renee Arner, a Salt Lake County parent with sons in both private parochial school and a public high school.
'Vouchers would help, but it wouldn''t pay for all of it, that''s for sure,' she said.
Arner said the best way to handle the issue is to give all schools proportionate numbers of vouchers.
Rather than providing money for school vouchers, Templeman and other public educators support using that money to enhance public school education.
'If parents applying for vouchers would put their time, energy and money into the public school system, we would have fantastic schools,' said Pat Drussle, an English teacher at Dixon Middle School in Provo.
Crockett said making private schools more available to families would allow both private and public schools to meet high standards to encourage students to stay in a particular school.
'It provides competition for them,' she said.
Templeman, a 29-year veteran of the public school system, regards public schools as a diverse melting pot that would be disturbed if a voucher plan were to encourage more students to transfer to private schools.
'It just totally undermines the public school system,' she said.
Brooke Pratley, a special education coordinator at Farrer Middle School in Provo, understands that many parents choose to send their children to private schools for certain programs, but worries about the effects on students remaining in public education.
'I have a tough time with vouchers,' she said.
Though some may not have the opportunity to attend private school, Crockett noted that all students do not have the same opportunities in public schools either.