What the Money Says About the Voucher Fight
None by KCPW
(KCPW News) The last 45 days have been lucrative for both sides of the voucher debate. They raised a combined six-million dollars for the fight. KCPW's Julie Rose takes a look at what the sources of that money says about the race itself:
New financial disclosures from voucher-related campaigns make the battle lines clear. Those who support vouchers have been underwritten by a wealthy champion of free market principles. And the national teacher's union is the primary force behind anti-voucher efforts.
Parents for Choice in Education spokesperson Robyn Bagley says the financial statements make it clear the union is out to protect its turf. Her group raised three and a half million dollars over the last 45 days - more than two million of that from Overstock-dot-com CEO Patrick Byrne and his parents.
The anti-voucher group Utahns for Public Schools got more than 90-percent of its two-point-two million dollars this cycle from the National Education Association and its state affiliates around the country. But the group also received small gifts ranging from ten to a hundred dollars from more than a thousand teachers around the state. And Utahns for Public Schools spokesperson Lisa Johnson believes that will translate to more votes.
The bulk of money on both sides has gone toward a barrage of advertising and campaign mailers. The pro-voucher campaign reports just 12-thousand dollars left in the bank. Opponents of vouchers still have about 200-thousand dollars. And Tuesday is election day.
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1. Paul Venturella said:
...and the TV stations who have received millions of advertising dollars are crying all the way to the bank!
3. Jeremy said:
Tom: The NEA is a collection of teachers, but the money spent by the NEA represents the mandatory dues of those teachers, spent by the powerful leaders of a special interest group, the union, in defense of their particular government-enforced monopoly. The thousands of contributions around the state do show that there are individuals who are opposed to vouchers, but I wonder that you don't see the contributing teachers as attempting to "protect their initial investment." The founder of Overstock.com has no financial interest in this fight, since he doesn't own any private schools. The teachers, however, have a very big financial interest in this fight, because vouchers represent an end to the inherently coercive nature of the government-run schools.
2. Tom Nedreberg said:
I think it's interesting that PCE gets it's money from a few large sources/individuals. The NEA is a collection of 3.2 million teachers and even though it's portrayed as a single source, it's really a collection of teachers who passionatly believe in public schools. There was big money involved in Utah from PCE before the voucher legislation to help get voucher friendly people elected. They are now spending a lot more then the anti-voucher people are to protect their initial investment. Problem is, votes of the people aren't bought like canidates are and having thousands of small contributions shows there are thousands of people committed to making sure there are no vouchers in Utah. I already voted NO on referendum 1.