Utah Senate votes to pass school voucher bill

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate has voted and passed HB215, which would give teachers a pay raise and give money to students in home study or private schools.

The vote Thursday was 20 in favor and eight against.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee Monday, which meant it was brought before the full Senate for debate and discussion. Before that, the bill passed the House with a two-thirds majority.

Following Thursday’s Senate vote, the bill now goes to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk. The governor has said before that he will not veto the bill.

The Utah State Board of Education, however, opposes it, and claims it will take money away from public education. One controversial aspect to the bill were statements by a lobbyist, a prominent backer of school choice, who said she wanted to “destroy public education.” Lawmakers disavowed those comments, and Allison Sorensen, the lobbyist, apologized.

Teachers from at least two schools have walked out of school to protest the voucher bill. At West High, about 20 teachers walked out and rallied for approximately 10 minutes, chanting “public schools, public money” and “raises yes, vouchers no.”