tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598456567007654560.post84868667021281544..comments2023-10-29T11:55:11.555-04:00Comments on Hispanic CREO's Daily Grito: Vouchers versus CTC Scholarships, Part IIUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598456567007654560.post-4334799207237369692007-11-28T12:41:00.000-05:002007-11-28T12:41:00.000-05:00I think the Salt Lake Tribune polling data says a ...I think the Salt Lake Tribune polling data says a lot both about why the Nov. 2007 campaign failed and, possibly, about why a corporate tax rebate plan might still succeed.<BR/><BR/>Here's a quote from a pro-voucher advocate in the Tribune article:<BR/><BR/>"That is our target audience. We knew we had to make it a matter of the heart, as well as self-interest," Mero says. "I'm looking into white faces and I'm saying, 'I know it's not your problem, but you need to know it's a problem to those people over there. Have a heart.' "<BR/><BR/>BAD IDEA! Why try to argue sympathy for the poor when (1) only 6% of supporters think that's the most important reason to support vouchers and (2) it reinforces the let's-spend-MORE-money-reinforcing- public-schools mindset (many people probably see further investment in the public schools as the best thing society does for the poor, because they don't appreciate the absolute degeneracy of many public schools today or the structural reasons more money isn't the answer).<BR/><BR/>In its own bizarre way, explaining that the Nov. 2007 voucher vote would have been paid for out of general Utah funds rather than the public school system might have been too complicated for voters to understand (or sound a little too good to be true). That's why I think the idea of corporate tax credits will probably have much more appeal. The greatest fear of the average Utahan on the street, I think, is that their little Suzie or Joey will show up to the first day of (public) school and there will be no crayons anymore because the budget was cut to pay for vouchers for other people's kids. The poverty argument reinforces that view, and says "You, average voter, are fundamentally different from the kind of person who would use vouchers, but support them anyway!" Everyone understands and sympathizes with the idea that parents want to help their children learn. That strikes me as a much better message.<BR/><BR/>When it's clear that the money is coming from somewhere outside the current educational system, it seems much more like a bonus and less like a threat. No one understands how corporate taxes affect him or her, and so converting anonymous, invisible tax money into tangible vouchers for kids (and only the kids who need it most) seems to me like it will have a lot of appeal. I admire those Utah legislators--they don't give up!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com