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Show Arguments Against Initiative C does not help Utah education or Utah taxpayers! f Initiative C costs taxpayers t millions! Initiative C would give parents a tax credit of up to $722 a year for each child taught in a private school. Over 5,500 children go to private schools already, which could cost the state over $3.5 million in the first year alone. If a person doesn't owe any taxes or enough taxes to cover the credit, taxpayers would have to pay that person the difference! Initiative C destroys equality in education! Utah has long been committed to giving children an equal education in tax-supported, free public schools. To guarantee equal education throughout Utah, the state insures that districts have about the same amount of money per child. Initiative C would damage the whole school funding process. If it passes, it may destroy Utah's ability to guarantee every child an equal education. By giving a tax credit for parents to take their children out of the public schools, it creates at least a two-level system of education. The wealth of a child's parents would determine the quality of education a child gets! Parents able to put their children in private schools and claim the tax credit are usually well-off. Because the tax credit would reduce education funding, it would decrease the quality of education in public schools. The students continuing in I public schools would suffer while the wealthy benefitted. Initiative C increases the percentage of difficult students in public schools! Private schools can refuse students who have discipline problems, or who need specialized programs. Public schools must educate every child. Research has shown that a core of good highly-motivated students can "lift up" an entire school. All of society benefits from good schools. The initiative takes many of the best students out of public schools. The quality of education in public schools will suffer. Initiative C is unconstitutional! In 1973, the United States Supreme Court struck down a New York law almost identical to Initiative C. The court declared that since the program rewarded parents only when they sent their children to private schools, which include religious schools, it promoted religion. Initiative C is probably also unconstitutional. If it is approved by the voters, it could be costly to the state to defend the law! That money could be spent on education for our children. Initiative C encourages home schools! Few parents have the time or skills to teach the subjects required in public schools. Many would start home schools primarily for the tax credit and not for the purpose of seeing children receive a quality education. Unregulated opportunists could take advantage of unsuspecting parents and students! The state would need a new bureaucracy to supervise private schools! Utah currently has no way to set or enforce standards for private schools. But if Initiative C passes, the state will have to supervise private schools to prevent fraud and abuse. Initiative C makes a new bureaucracy necessary! Let's not destroy education! Vote "AGAINST" Initiative C! Senator Haven J. Barlow P.O. Box 626 ! Layton, Utah 84041 |