Utah Gov. Signs Broad Voucher Law

Utah has become the first state to offer every public school student a tuition voucher that could be used to attend a private school—a move that school choice advocates hope will embolden other states to embrace universal-voucher programs.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed the voucher bill into law yesterday.

The legislation, the product of a six-year statehouse battle, would provide every public school student who wanted one a voucher worth $500 per year, while low-income children would receive as much as $3,000 a year. To ease the financial loss to public schools, districts for five years would retain a portion of the state funding they would otherwise lose for each student who transferred to a private school, which could...