Despite continued misunderstanding surrounding the voucher issue, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, in an Opinion piece for the Daily Herald this morning, further clarifies (patiently) the rationale behind recent actions he took regarding the insubordination of a couple of his “Special” Assistant Attorneys General working in the Utah Office of Education.

Counselor Carol Lear, along with attorney Jean Hill, filed legal papers and other documents for the State Board of Education contrary to the Legal Opinion of the Attorney General regarding HB174 “Education Voucher Amendments”–a Big NO NO.  In a letter to Lear and Hill, AG Shurtleff, “stripped” the two attroneys of their authority to speak in behalf of the AG’s office.  A statement in an article from the Salt Lake Tribune, quotes Shurtleff saying:

“…you have fostered an adversarial and hostile relationship between the State Board of Education and this office by giving advice contrary and inconsistent with advice given by me and others in the Attorney General’s Office.”

The actions of Lear and Hill are often the grounds for dismissal; however, the two attorneys continue as counsel to the Office of Education and the State School Board.

The Voucher Misunderstanding 

I’m stunned by how many people I’ve spoken with in the past couple of months who don’t know what was in the petition they signed for the Voucher Referendum.  “Someone told me Vouchers would take away money from our school children…so I signed it.”  Following a brief explanation of what vouchers REALLY do (i.e. reduce class size, hold schools financially “harmless” for five years, give more options for families with special needs children, etc.), the person often appears embarrassed and usually takes a defensive position…which is never my intent.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve spoken with a single individual who signed the petition (or would have signed it) that is seriously reconsidering their actions and their vote.  You see, many of them feel they were “coerced” or “lied to.”

The TRUTH About VOUCHERS 

As we get closer to the November “Voucher Vote,” necessity dictates further simplification and clarification of the TRUTH surrounding this arguement.  A number of “groups” have been organized, FOR and AGAINST.  And, no matter what side of the debate you’re on, one thing is guaranteed: the more DIALOGUE, the more FACTS reaching the surface of the issue, the more RATIONAL DEBATE that occurs…the better informed the public will be when we go to the polls to let our voice be heard in November.  So, even though it’s a tedious task, let’s keep digging through the minutia.

Thanks Mark, for further clarifying the actions of your office and giving us GOOD INFORMATION on this issue.

This year the Utah County Republican Party submitted a new entry for the Freedom Festival Parade–a float expertly piloted by Jeff Bramble.  The float, a bald eagle perched above a flowing flag of stars and stripes.  A tributary phrase on each side reads: “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave.”  A beautiful addition to the already spectacular 2 mile parade route.

Representing the State House, from Utah County, were Rep’s Ken Sumsion, Craig Frank, Brad Daw, Chris Herrod, and Becky Lockhart.  From the Senate were President Valentine, Sen’s Bramble and Dayton (all three riding Segways).  Also, from the County Party was Suzie Bramble (Secretary) and the new State Party Chairman, Stan Lockhart.  A herd of junior right-leaning pachyderms accompanied their parents down the parade route passing out pint-sized american flags and candy.