The final days for signing the petition calling for a referendum on vouchers are here.

By Monday, all of the petitions must be turned in to the county clerks for cross-checking. If you have not yet signed a petition, I urge you to do so today. Monday will be too late.

The challenge of producing approximately 95,000 valid signatures in just 40 days is a daunting one. The effort is close, but the goal is evasive. In order to obtain the required signatures, more than 130,000 endorsements are required because some signatures may be disqualified. You can make the difference.

If you believe the public should have the final say, and tax dollars should not pay for private school education, as I do, find a petition today and sign it now.

Numerous challenges have been launched to halt a successful petition drive. Some have thrown up legal questions in an attempt to baffle the voters. Such legal challenges are designed to confuse the issue, and can only be resolved before the courts.

Do not let legal challenges confuse the real issue: Do the residents want tax dollars to fund private schoolsfi Sign the petition so that the voters can decide.

The airwaves have been inundated with slick advertisements about the supposed virtues of a voucher program. None deal with the real issue: Should tax dollars go to private institutions which may deny admission to any student who doesn't fit their profilefi

Should tax dollars support the teaching of unique principles, some extreme and contrary to public, even legal, standardsfi

Should tax dollars be sent out with only the vaguest accountabilityfi Sign the petition so that the voters can decide.

The real question is, shouldn't our strongest tax effort provide the best possible education for all childrenfi In my opinion, the needs of all our children are best served by insisting on the best public education we can, and not by diverting our scarce resources to alternative systems.

I urge you to sign the petition, so voters can decide the future of education for the children of Utah.

Kim R. Burningham is a member of the Utah State Board of Education.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A4.