Embattled Utah teachers notch big wins with anti-voucher ruling and referendum signatures.
Hits & Misses
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Hit: Getting Schooled
It's not over till it's over. But for now, education in Utah can bask in a win or two. First, let's talk about vouchers. A judge ruled that the Utah First All Scholarship is unconstitutional because it doesn't "fit all." Of course, the ruling will be appealed, as legislative leadership thinks it takes away parents' ability to seek the best outcomes for their kids. Voucher advocates say students have already had transformative experiences—although there is no data to prove it. Meanwhile, the Utah Education Association and other labor groups submitted the most referendum signatures ever collected in Utah to overturn a law banning collective bargaining. The governor said he never liked the bill, even though he signed it. Sponsor Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, unsurprisingly blamed outside money and influence, although it is the Legislature that makes referendums expensive and difficult.
Miss: Study Abroad
In the United States of Trump, foreign students are just as suspect as any undocumented people. International students at some eight Utah colleges have had their visas revoked as Homeland Security searches for any reason to shrink the nation's brain trust. Chillingly, students are also being warned they could be deported to a third country—there's a Salvadoran prison whose doors are open and waiting. Several students and the ACLU are suing. Millcreek and its mayor are having none of it. They are trying to make sense of deportation letters sent to residents who are in the country legally. Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini is reaching out to Rep. Burgess Owens, who has praised Trump's deportations. "This is an affront to constitutionally guaranteed rights to all persons in the United States," Silvestrini said. And attorney Jim McConkie is representing a Venezuelan family who fled for safety reasons. These days, a traffic violation could send you to the gulag.
Miss: Dry Land
It goes without saying that Utah does not like red tape—especially if it's from the federal government. Now, we're fully behind Trump's withdrawal of the BLM's Public Lands Rule to ensure conservation of public lands. Utah Attorney General Derek Brown called the rule a museum-type management approach. While Gov. Spencer Cox insists that Utah knows how to do conservation, the Trump administration is laser-focused on drilling—or rather, "energy development" on public lands. They might want to be drilling for water now that Utah and two other states are suing to make nuclear reactors great again. Small nuclear reactors are kind of the thing these days because they're "small." But Smart Water Magazine notes that one reactor needs billions of gallons of water each year, requires filtering and still generates nuclear waste. Utah, we know, is not flush with water.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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