A new state audit of Utah's school voucher program uncovered "wasteful and extravagant" spending on things like high-end electronics, home gym equipment, trampolines and recreational gear.
The record-keeping was such a mess that the state auditor's office had to build its own AI model just to sort through the transactions—and even then, they could only confidently trace about one in five dollars spent.
To break down what this audit means and where things go from here, I spoke with Rep. John Arthur (D-Salt Lake City) who also teaches in a public school classroom.
Arthur didn't hold back. As someone who's had to crowdfund basic classroom supplies for his own students, he sees a stark contrast between what public school teachers can get approved for their classrooms and what voucher recipients can buy with little oversight.
Could a classroom teacher ever get discretionary funds approved for anything close to those items? His answer: absolutely not.
We also dug into the legal fight hanging over the program. A district court judge already ruled the voucher law unconstitutional, finding it violates a state constitutional provision that earmarks income tax revenue for public education. That case is now pending before the Utah Supreme Court, which the GOP-controlled Legislature recently expanded and restructured, raising its own set of questions about how that appeal might play out.
Arthur believes the $120 million currently funding the voucher program should go back into public education, and he points to his own experience trying to get a $2 million bill funded to put certified teacher librarians in every school district as an example of how lawmakers treat public school priorities differently than private ones.
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