As I See It
Costs of voucher schools becoming too much
We just can’t afford it anymore. Spending on voucher schools in Wisconsin is like an out of control freight train. Costs for Wisconsin’s private school voucher program is poised to hit $350 million per year as more and more students enroll in the program. The program used to be in effect only in Milwaukee, but has since expanded statewide, and the costs have expanded along with it. This is a huge cost to taxpayers, and a drain on funding for our public schools. Keep in mind that these private voucher schools aren’t necessarily providing a better education. They aren’t required to keep track of student performance. And their teachers aren’t held to the same standards as those in public schools. The kicker is that a large majority of the students enrolled in Wisconsin’s voucher schools aren’t even leaving a public school to go there. Instead, 82% of students statewide who attend private voucher schools attended a private school last year. Fewer than 11% of those receiving the taxpayer funded vouchers to attend private schools came from a public school the previous year. The only difference for most of these students is that instead of their parents paying for them to attend private schools is that now the taxpayers are picking up the tab. And at $350 million a year, Wisconsin taxpayers can no longer afford it. It is time to pull in the reins on Wisconsin’s school voucher program and stop picking up the tuition tab for students already enrolled in private schools.
Randy J Hubert
October 18, 2019 at 6:11 am
You are a true liberal
Jeffery Pralle
October 18, 2019 at 10:51 am
SRS, You need to get all the facts before hand, read this and I can get you more.
How does school choice affect public schools’ funding and resources?
School choice programs affect public schools’ funding and resources in the same way they’re affected when a student leaves because their family moved to a new district—except with school choice programs, public schools get to keep almost all of the federal and local tax dollars and usually a portion of the state funds allocated for each child. Yes, public schools get to keep a significant portion of money for a student they no longer have the responsibility of educating.
In our opinion, when a student leaves a school—regardless of type—the school should no longer have to pay to educate that student. When any school gains or loses students, it must adjust accordingly. The most-used form of school choice in America is the one where families access a particular school by renting or buying a home in the district or utilize public-to-public transfer programs that allow them to attend a school outside the district where they live.
The biggest question policymakers have to answer when it comes to K–12 funding is whether the money set aside to educate children should follow them to the people and places that educate them—whether that’s in their district, outside their district, in a private setting, online or at home.
We believe it should.
What the Research Says
Researchers have conducted 52 analyses on the fiscal effects of private school choice programs. Forty-seven found these programs generated overall fiscal savings for taxpayers; four found programs were cost-neutral; and one found a Louisiana program for students with exceptional special needs generated net costs.
What each analysis has found is that public schools have some fixed costs, but most of their costs are variable, meaning costs are reduced when students leave the same way costs increase when new students enroll. That was true long before school choice programs existed, and it will continue to be. I can get you more information for a detailed article that walks you through how researchers calculate the fiscal impact of school voucher programs.
For a fully cited list of studies, visit our school choice research bibliography page.
The Bottom Line
It is natural and crucial for taxpayers and policymakers to worry about public schools’ bottom line.
The reason we are often asked this question is because they’ve heard school choice will leave “already underfunded schools with even less funding.” But it’s important to understand how much funding public schools currently receive.
Total public school expenditures nationwide for fiscal year 2015 exceeded $650 billion, according to the most recent data available from the National Center for Education Statistics. That’s $12,500 per student. No state spends less than $6,800 per student. Some spend up to $20,700 per student.
Now, how much are states spending on school choice programs today?
Based on the most recent data available, only $2.3 billion across the entire country. The program (that isn’t a program limited only to students with special needs) with the highest average per-student funding is about $11,600. Some programs cost as low as $500 per student.
The truth? The people running public schools are often the biggest threat to public schools’ bottom line, not school choice.
School pension costs have doubled over the last 10 years from $500 per student to more than $1,000 per student because public school officials ignored fiscal experts’ warnings and chose to write checks for a pension plan they cannot cash…for decades.
To make matters worse, a recent study found that public schools have allocated $805 billion to hire seven times more non-teaching staff than they needed to meet the demand of student growth—while simultaneously reducing teacher salaries. That’s right. Public schools intentionally hired far more non-teachers than they needed to match student growth, causing an overall reduction in teacher salaries.
Anyone can see funding school choice today is a drop in the bucket compared to public school spending. And it’s pretty easy to argue that drop is spent more efficiently, too.
When we all begin to look at public education funding holistically and have an honest and objective conversation about it, we can begin to focus on what really matters: how school choice programs affect the lives of the families and children who use them.
Reese S
October 18, 2019 at 6:52 pm
SRS,
350 million seems like a lot of money, but how much does Wisconsin spend on public schools each year? Please look at schoolchoicewi.org. The truth is every child in Wisconsin is due an education why not let the parents decide what is best for their child. The vouchers are far less to the private schools than what the public schools get per child so the tax payers of Wisconsin are actually getting a better deal. Its obvious you are not a fan of the program and I can respect that. I work hard as does my wife and I followed the guidelines and the laws to the program and got vouchers for all my children. I feel my children are getting a better education but even if they were not it’s my choice.