Salt Lake City – A conservative think tank is distributing a lengthy essay on the history of education in Utah, implying that if Mormons don’t vote in favor of the state’s school voucher law, they could face cultural extinction.
The Mormon-oriented Sutherland Institute bought ads in Utah’s two largest newspapers to publish its essay, which says public schools were introduced in Utah by federal officials who wanted to end the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ control of the state.
“The object was to provide a broader context, not just for the voucher debate but for education reform policy debates across the spectrum,” author Paul Mero says. “The paper was written with the hopes that we can lessen the contentiousness.”
Utah passed the nation’s broadest private-school voucher program, giving parents $500 to $3,000 per child to attend private school. Voters will decide whether to keep the program Nov. 6.
Voucher opponents say they are appalled by some of the essay’s statements, including Mero’s assertion that public schools historically have been part of the federal government’s campaign of “cultural cleansing” of minority groups.
Mero says it applies to Mormons, American Indians and other minority groups.
“I’ve just written what the history is,” he says.
Voucher advocacy group Parents for Choice in Education would not comment on the essay. The unofficial blog of Utah Senate Republicans, , features the essay and calls it a “striking analysis … offering historic context for the voucher discussion.” Senate Republicans voted in favor of the voucher law and are working to rally support for it before the November referendum.
Opponents of vouchers say the essay is an attempt to convince Mormon voters that their forebears would want them to join the voucher cause.
“No honest person who has studied the historical record of Utahns prior to statehood could conclude anything other than that they would have embraced what we now call vouchers,” the essay says.
“I shook my head when I read it,” said Rep. Sheryl Allen, a Republican, Mormon and a voucher opponent.
Allen said if Mero’s argument is that because 19th-century Mormons relied on private schools, state government should provide vouchers today. “Then we should also go back to polygamy too.”
