I feel a sense of deja vu every time the legislature comes into session. Right wing Republicans are making noises that they aren't satisfied with the fact that they have put Utah in the cellar for public education funding, now they want to do even more damage to the education of Utah children.  They're talking about bringing back school vouchers and making school board members into partisan officials.  If you are also getting a sense of deja vu when you hear about these two initiatives, you would be right.  Four years ago the legislature passed a school vouchers bill.  It would have allocated public money for private schools.  Of course, it wasn't as if the state had extra money to throw around.  Over the past 15 years, the state legislature has been steadily starving public education of needed funds.  Most of us know that money spent on helping a few students with a voucher to a private school could be better used for helping many students in the public education system.  Unfortunately, our Republican legislators don't seem to know that.

The voters decisively rejected vouchers in 2007 after the Republicans tried to push them through.  I knew they wouldn't let it go.  They aren't very interested in what the voters want.  They are most interested in what some extremist Republican delegates want.  They want our taxpayer money to take their children out of the public school system.  These parents are certainly welcome to leave the system if they wish.  But, no, they can't use taxpayer money to make their personal choice.  Democrats are going to fight this voucher effort.  Unfortunately, there aren't enough Democrats to block this bad legislation.  And Governor Herbert is a voucher supporter. It looks like voters may have to have to send them a message once again.

On the partisan school board front, this move (which has been offered several times before) would mean that the Republican party machine would control local school boards.  Local school boards have been independent of partisan politics.  Sometimes those local boards are vigorous in opposing the Republicans' education-destructive bills.  Not surprisingly, school board members see the effects of those bills, as laws, on our public education system.  They see overcrowded classrooms, high school graduation rates falling, and overstressed teachers.  And these school board members become lobbyists for the welfare of our kids.  Of course, Republican legislators don't like that.  They want extremist Republicans to control our school boards as well.  Fortunately,  Kim Burningham, a state school board member, is circulating a petition and asking people who want to stand up against this silliness to sign it.  If you are interested in signing, contact Kim at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Here are some Will Rogers' jokes about Congress, but substitute the Utah state legislature instead and then hope the next six weeks isn't too disastrous for the state of Utah:

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer."

"The thing about my jokes is that they don't hurt anybody.... But with Congress - every time they make a joke it's a law.  And every time they make a law it's a joke."