Utah’s expansive school voucher program was unceremoniously pushed into existence by the Utah State Legislature in 2023. Since then, $82.5 million in Utah taxpayer money has been diverted into the program, with no evidence that 1) Utahns want to pay for students to attend private school; or 2) this poorly-constructed program will produce any positive educational outcomes for Utah children.
Education advocates oppose vouchers because they divert taxpayer funds from public schools and show poor education outcomes. For the first time, during the 2024-25 school year, Utah parents are able to access public taxpayer funding to enroll their child in private religious schools, or to cover home-schooling expenses. Voucher families currently receive $8,000 per student.*
Most Utahns may still not be aware of what the voucher program is and the basics of how it works. This new blog series explores the basics of vouchers and school privatization.
Part 1: The Basics of Utah's New School Privatization Program

The first part of this series explains how Utah's school voucher program, titled Utah Fits All Scholarship, is meant to work and how it is managed.
Read Part 1Part 2: A Timeline of the School Voucher Steamroller in Utah

Part two discusses the steady steamrolling of school vouchers in Utah—a state where only 3% of students attend private schools, 5% are homeschooled, and the vast majority of families report high satisfaction with their local public schools.
READ PART 2Part 3: Utahns Like Their Public Schools, So Who Exactly Does Want Vouchers?

The third part of this series discusses public opinion on vouchers and how Utah's voucher push is part of a nationwide, billionaire-funded agenda to privatize education.
READ PART 3Part 4: The Most Important Thing: Vouchers Don't Help Kids

(Coming Soon)
* It’s important to note that many well-regarded private schools, such as The Waterford School in Sandy or Intermountain Christian School in Salt Lake, charge annual tuition between $13,000 and $30,000. In addition, there are fewer than 200 private schools in the entire state. Four out of every five private schools in Utah are located on the Wasatch Front, in just four counties (Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah).