UEA announces lawsuit challenging Utah's school voucher program

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The Utah Education Association announced it is filing a lawsuit challenging the state's recently implemented Utah Fits All voucher program, which allocates $82.5 million in public funds to private schools.

The lawsuit was announced Wednesday at Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

UEA President Renée Pinkney said the the goal is to ensure public funds remain in public schools, "where they can do the most good for all our students."

The voucher program is expected to take effect in the 2024-25 school year.

"The Utah Fits All voucher program does not fit all, and in fact harms public school students and educators," Pinkney said.

The teachers union, which represents 18,000 public school educators, has been a vocal critic of the voucher program over it's multiple legislative iterations. Bills have failed to become law for decades in Utah until the 2023 Legislative Session, when legislators drafted a bill raising teacher salaries - and tied the scholarship-model voucher program to it.

MORE from Crisis in the Classroom:

• Utah Board of Education disputes reports of low student proficiency rates
  
• Students, parents march from East High to Glendale Middle to show need for new high school
  

It was an idea floated by Gov. Spencer Cox in 2022 after he promised to veto a voucher bill that ultimately failed to pass out of the Utah House during that year's legislative session.

He proposed $6,000 pay raises for teachers as part his budget plan that year, and said he'd be open to supporting a voucher program if legislators funded his public education requests.

The new contingency-based legislation made it to Cox's desk and was signed into law on Jan. 28, 2023.

"The voucher program diverts funds from already underfunded public schools, where 90% of our children learn," Pinkney said at a media event in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. "(It) places vulnerable students at risk by stripping away protections and accountability. . . . This alarming situation should raise serious concerns about the future of public education in Utah."

Supporters said the program gave parents more choices in their children's education and improved access to private schools for lower-income families.

State Board of Education member Carol Lear supported this lawsuit, saying she's concerned about lack of oversight over the voucher program.

"The state board of education has no general control and supervision," Lear said.

KUTV reached out to Alliance for Choice in Education, one of the main groups behind the voucher program named in the lawsuit. They said there was high demand for the program this year.

In an email, they responded to KUTV's questions, stating "10,000 children will receive the scholarship this year. 27,210 student applications were submitted, so demand was very high. Scholarships are effective on July 1. That is when parents can start spending the scholarship money."

In response to the lawsuit, Utah Fits All responded with a statement:

“It’s not at all surprising that as soon as parents are given agency in their children’s education, opposition steps in with desperate attempts to reclaim control and return to the status quo. This lawsuit is noisy activism and a shameful attempt to strip away education options from students and families in Utah. We’re very confident their efforts will not succeed. Utah’s legislature did its due diligence to pass responsible legislation that was consistent with Utah’s Constitution. Utah families who have been awarded this scholarship should continue to celebrate and plan for the new school year. Those who were waitlisted should be assured that we will not stop advocating until this scholarship is available to every Utah family who wants it. Education ultimately should center on the needs of the student and family. We’re in a new day of centering the agency of families in education and look forward with optimism to that movement growing in Utah and beyond.”

___