Another voucher school takes the money and runs

Wisconsin has gone all in on voucher schools. But lawmakers continue to throw money at these taxpayer funded private schools with no measures of accountability. And once again, that has come back to bite taxpayers. Yet another voucher school, the Daughters of the Father Christian Academy in Milwaukee has shut its doors after cashing in on the state’s voucher program. The school had accepted $5.4 million in public money since first enrolling in the voucher program in 2007. The school was essentially kicked out of the Parental Choice program for failing to follow the state’s rules. A handful of other voucher schools which took state money have already closed, some in the middle of the night. That’s a lot of money wasted on education. But it shouldn’t be a surprise. Our lawmakers have continually failed to adopt any form of accountability for these schools. Teachers in these schools don’t have to be licensed, there are no background checks for hiring teachers and administrators, and they don’t have to have the same graduation requirements at public schools. Some lawmakers are increasing their calls for some accountability measures in the wake of this latest school closing. But so far, they haven’t been able to schedule a hearing on the idea. As long as the state continues to allow these voucher schools to operate by their own rules, we shouldn’t be surprised when more schools cash the state’s checks, then close their doors.