Just days after reporting a nearly $400,000 contribution from the nation’s largest teachers union, the Utah political issues committee fighting Amendment A on the November ballot hit the airwaves with a TV commercial.
More than $300,000 is being spent to air the new ad from Utahns for Student Success that describes the proposed constitutional amendment passed by state lawmakers in 2023 as an attempt to allow politicians “to pull off a power grab, taking funding away from our local public schools to fund vouchers for religious private schools instead.”
The message is also appearing on cable channels, streaming services and yard signs, said Utah Education Association President Renée Pinkney, who also heads the coalition of a dozen organzations behind the political issues committee. The committee has raised more than $428,000, including $380,110 from the National Education Association, according to a Sept. 30 disclosure.
“This feels like this is an attack on public education in order to privatize schools,” Pinkney said, adding that the campaign was “absolutely” about more than just the proposed constitutional amendment. “It is a reminder that vouchers are a threat to public schools.”