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Last Friday, Utah made history by passing the nation’s first universal scholarship program.  This is the transcript of remarks given on the floor of the Senate by Sen. Robert A. Stevenson during the final vote on the legislation.  -ed.

I’d like to explain my vote, and my vote will be the vote that pushes this over the top.  

First, to Sen. McCoy’s comment: when we voted on Divine Strake, there was no time certain, there was no forewarning.  With this, everyone—the public, all members of this body—were notified more than 24 hours ago that this would occur, so it wasn’t a surprise to any of us.  And it established the efficiency of the system, so that we don’t go through this two times, and use up valuable time even though we all know that the result is not going to change.  And so I support our leadership and this body in establishing a time certain so that everybody in this state would know exactly when this bill was to be considered.  There are people who are tuned in because they were given notice, and this is an appropriate use of suspension of the rules.  

When I was elected in 1992, the first thing I did was to file a bill for tuition tax credits.  Senate Bill 258 was sponsored in the 1993 general session of the Legislature, and as you know, it failed.  But even before that, some legislators had sponsored legislation to give parents the right to choose how and where their children are educated without having to pay twice for their children’s education.  

In 1983, you all remember the “Nation at Risk” report, which was published by the Reagan Administration with the able assistance of two Utahans: Terrel Bell, former state superintendent of schools, former leader in our school community; as well as David Pierpont Gardner, who headed the national panel of experts.  That report declared—this is 1983, if my math is right that was 24 years ago—they declared that the American education system was broken, and if a foreign power had imposed the system upon us by force, we would have considered it an act of war.  

They were right.  The system was broken.  And I think the person that probably helped us to identify that best was Milton Friedman, who just recently passed away, and who 50 years ago said that if we ever expect to improve public education in America, it will require introducing free market principles into the system. 

That’s what this bill does.  This bill empowers parents to vote with their feet, if they are willing to add their own dollars to tuition in a private school.  What a wonderful concept, what a wonderful thing to add value, to add dollars to the pie that makes up the amount we collectively spend in this state, both public and private, on education, kindergarten through 12th grade.

Now we have heard the public education community say time and again that we need to expand the size of the pie, we need to spend more on public education.  But I would say that we need to spend more on education in general, whether public or private.  This bill does some wonderful things in protecting all public education spending from being diminished by holding them harmless for five years for every kid who leaves.  And in addition to that, it entices parents to add to the economic pie voluntarily, so that the amount we’re spending in Utah because of this bill will be greater collectively, not only protected in the public system, but expanded in the private system, so that Milton Friedman’s dream of allowing parents to vote with their feet will actually come to pass.  

And in his memory, I vote “aye.”