The Utah Board of Education is poised to adopt the rule dictating how it will implement a school voucher program, even though the program faces two major challenges…. As the board meets today, a group of voucher opponents will be trying to gather enough signatures to put the Parent Choice in Education Act on hold and force a public vote of the issue. And even if the law survives that referendum push, several lawmakers worry a three-line provision in last-minute legislation amending Utah's voucher law may make the law moot….

The provision says participating private schools must have working capital totalling at least 80 percent of quarterly expenditures…. That means schools must have enough cash or liquid commodities on hand to pay nearly three month's worth of bills…. "There's not a business I know of that has 80 percent working capital in the bank," Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble said during last week's debate… But private schools aren't like other businesses and several Utah schools would have no problem meeting the provision. The trouble… would be for schools just starting up, leasing space or dealing with an enrollment lull.

Nicole Stricker, Salt Lake Tribune, March 7