Voucher Supporter Says Program As Simple As Oreo Cookies

None by Eric Ray

(KCPW News) Can a stack of Oreo cookies really explain the confusion surrounding private school vouchers? Parental rights activist and star of the widely seen pro-voucher commercial Richard Eyre says the cookie stack simplifies the voucher equation.

"You've got your seven and a half cookies. And the most that any voucher student can take of that seven and $7,500 is $3,000. The average would be $2,000. That leaves $5,000 in the public schools and the kid is not there anymore," says Eyre.

To further simplify his argument, Eyre says public school class size lowers each time a child goes to a private school. That should raise the amount of money spent per child in the public school system. Voucher opponent Pat Rusk, past president of the Utah Education Foundation, says if solving the state's education troubles were that simple, it would have happened already.

"This bill pays for private school students who have never been in private school but would have always gone to private school - that's where the expense comes in," says Rusk. "Over these years, this is a very expensive government entitlement program because we will be paying not only for our public school system, and a charter school system, but we will also be subsidizing all of the private school students in private schools 12 years from now."

Yesterday's voucher debate, sponsored by KCPW and Fox 13 television, is available for download here. The General Election, which includes the vote on the voucher referendum, is slated for Tuesday.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Election Coverage, and Election 2007. Copyright 2009 KCPW