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As I See It

Time for vote on school vouchers in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin’s school voucher program has continued to swell in recent years. About 38,000 students in Wisconsin use vouchers to attend private schools at taxpayer expense. But that program may not continue to grow under the budget Governor Tony Evers has proposed. Evers has proposed capping how many students in the state can use public money to pay for private school tuition. Its about time. The school voucher program is costing us too much, and taking too many resources from public schools. Wisconsin taxpayers spent nearly $300 million on school vouchers last year, a nine percent increase from the year before. But many who receive taxpayer-funded tuition were already enrolled in the same private schools. They are simply now attending at our expense. Evers also wants our property tax bills to contain a breakdown of what it is costing each taxpayer to fund the voucher program. And these schools are largely unregulated, don’t have the same rules as public schools, and don’t have to report the outcome of their pricey education. Evers’ proposal is a good start. But perhaps it is time to have the legislature put the whole voucher program to an up and down vote. In the 30 years Wisconsin has offered vouchers, it has never been subjected to a public hearing. Instead, the program has been funded as part of a larger budget package, with no public input. Meanwhile, the costs of the program continue to grow, and public schools are paying the price.

Scott Robert Shaw serves as WIZM Program Director and News Director, and delivers the morning news on WKTY, Z-93 and 95.7 The Rock. Scott has been at Mid-West Family La Crosse since 1989, and authors Wisconsin's only daily radio editorial, "As I See It" heard on WIZM each weekday morning and afternoon.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Don

    March 19, 2019 at 6:58 am

    Scott,

    Your comment today omits information that misleads your audience to believe the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (School Vouchers) is simply a way for rich people to get the tax payers to pay for their private school tuition.
    1. Tuition vouchers are limited to low income families; a family of four cannot earn more than $43,752. I would hardly consider this a rich family by today’s standard.
    2. These low income families make great sacrifices to send their children to a private school system. They should not have to send their children to a private school, but the public school system has gone out of their way to push an anti-religion, humanist version of the world that is not aligned with their personal beliefs. This is a “choice” they were forced to make.
    3. All families sending their children to private schools, regardless of income, have to “subsidize” the public schools through their local property taxes.
    4. It’s true that many families using the voucher system may have older children already enrolled in a private school. These families are currently paying twice; local taxes and private tuition. The older children are not eligible for the voucher program, only new low income students enrolling in the school qualify.
    5. There are also other families in the community who would like to have the “choice” to send their children to a school that is not teaching their children a view of the world that is contrary to their personal beliefs but they financially cannot afford it. The voucher program gives them options.

    A simpler solution would be to exempt all families who send their children to a private school from paying local school taxes during the years they have school aged children. When they no longer have school aged children they can once again be forced to “subsidize” the public school system.

    Thank you,

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