As many were predicting, voters defeated the Utah voucher referendum, which would have created the nation’s most comprehensive school voucher program.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com and a leader in the pro-bond campaign “called the referendum a ‘statewide IQ test’ that Utahns failed.” (Whoa!) The Utah Education Association, a chapter of the NEA, and the Utah PTA led the anti-choice campaign and convinced voters that the voucher program would drain money from “underfunded” public schools.
Make no mistake about it, this vote was a major blow to the school choice movement.
