Wisconsin's Private School Vouchers Prove Wasteful

John Forester, Director of Government Relations for the School Administrators Alliance (SAA), shares in this blog posting more sound reasoning opposing Wisconsin Governor Walker's private school voucher plan.

Many observers have called Governor Walker’s proposal to expand private school vouchers bad education policy. I agree. But, today, I would like to address voucher expansion from the perspective of fiscal policy.

If voucher advocates are successful in expanding private school vouchers in this budget, vouchers will eventually become one of the largest taxpayer‐funded entitlements in Wisconsin.

I realize this is a strong statement. I also understand that voucher proponents argue the governor’s proposal increases voucher eligibility to just nine new school districts in 2013‐14. But, if you let the nose of the camel inside the tent, it won’t be long before the rest of the camel is inside the tent as well.

The ultimate objective of private school voucher advocates is a statewide system of private school vouchers for all Wisconsin school children. Voucher advocates, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, have repeatedly voiced their support for statewide vouchers. But, this objective really became crystal clear in a recent news interview when School Choice Wisconsin Vice‐President Terry Brown identified the goal of voucher proponents as “a voucher in every backpack.”

So, how much could this entitlement end up costing Wisconsin taxpayers?

Let’s just focus on those students currently enrolled in private school, because of course, lawmakers wouldn’t deny those children access to a voucher simply because they are already enrolled in private school. It wouldn’t be fair and, it probably wouldn’t be legal either. Let’s also remove the question of income eligibility because Governor Walker has already expressed his desire to remove the income eligibility requirements for vouchers.

According to the Department of Public Instruction, we have 97,488 students currently enrolled in private schools in Wisconsin but not receiving a taxpayer‐funded voucher. If we multiply that number by the current voucher payment of $6,442, we get just over $628 million.

But, the governor’s proposal would increase the voucher payment to $7,050 for K‐8 students and $7,856 for high school students. So, just for perspective, if we multiply the private school enrollment figure by $7,050, we get over $687 million. And, if we multiply the enrollment figure by $7,856, we get almost $766 million. Clearly, voucher expansion will be a large and growing fiscal commitment for Wisconsin taxpayers.

So, what would voucher proponents have lawmakers do to fund this growing entitlement? Raise taxes? In the 1990s, Governor Tommy Thompson was asked about his lack of support for statewide voucher expansion. He answered, “We can’t afford two systems of education.” His words ring just as true today as they did then.

We simply can’t afford two systems of education in Wisconsin.

After spending nine years on the staff of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, I have to say I am perplexed that so many fiscal conservatives would support growing entitlement spending of this magnitude.

Voucher expansion is not only bad education policy. It is bad fiscal policy as well.

Dittoing Diane on School Vouchers

Yesterday's release of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) choice school data is ditto to what Diane Ravitch has been reporting on Wisconsin's voucher program for some time.

America's premier education historian, Diane Ravitch has been building the case that Wisconsin’s “voucher schools perform no better than public schools.”  

For the third straight year since being required to pony up test scores, Wisconsin's voucher schools trail neighboring public schools in reading and math scores and lag significantly behind the state averages in student achievement, according to DPI's reporting.

Restore Pride in Wisconsin Schools

With my teaching schedule, I am unable to attend the public hearings on this year's state budget, so I sent the following letter to Wisconsin state legislators to express my serious concerns about inadequate funding for public schools. 

Wisconsin Legislators:

As you ponder this season's state budget, you should weigh heavily this reporting out of Evansville. This story adds to the mounting accounts of how the recent state cuts to public education are not working for Evansville or Wisconsin. 

Evansville's story is Wisconsin's story. Educators and school leaders in this small community have done nearly everything asked under the state proposals of the past two years. Nevertheless, this tight-knit community is being ripped apart from the outside by the reckless state government policies of the past couple years. 

Curiously, George Will Joins Demolition Crew

Curiously, George Will, the renowned political columnist, joined the demolition crew hastily trying to tear down Wisconsin’s public school system.

Over the past two years, Wisconsinites have become accustomed to outsiders trying to raze our public school system proudly built by generations of Wisconsin taxpayers, parents, students, and educators--conservatives and liberals alike.

Will joins the ranks of corporate associations (like ALEC), plutocrats (like the Koch Brothers), right wing think tanks (like Heartland Institute), and clandestine groups (like the pamphleteers in my hometown) defacing Wisconsin’s public schools.

This wrecking ball approach to public school reform is typical of those working in concert to tear down public education. Their pseudo-reforming of public schools involves destroying everything (with no regard for existing value) in public education. The demo crews claim to be reforming public education, but actually seek to raze it and rebuild with publicly-subsidized, privately-run schools.

Will’s recent op-ed attempts to bring a sledgehammer to Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for allegedly indoctrinating students in “consciousness-raising” about racism, recycling, and reproduction. Instead, Will practices sloppy journalism and relies on the unprofessional research of Education Action Group (EAG)--yet another right wing anti-public education group--in formulating his critique.

A Biased Letter From a Public School Product

Jenni Dye, an attorney and a Dane County Board Supervisor, let me republish below her open letter to the Janesville Board of Education. She blogs regularly at More Fine Print*. 

A Biased Letter

I submitted this letter today, with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. I am sharing it with you because I am truly saddened by what things have come to in Wisconsin and because I think as we deal with contracts, and are often caught up in their financial components, we shouldn’t lose sight of how public education is about students and successful communities.

Dear members of the Janesville Board of Education:

DNR School Vouchers

For the betterment of Wisconsin, Gov. Walker should adhere to the do not resuscitate (DNR) order and let the state's voucher experiment die peacefully. Instead, this past week, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker began administering CPR to his flatlining school voucher plan.

In an attempt to rescue the Koch Brothers-promoted plan, Gov. Walker has reversed his position and now supports voucher schools being subjected to the same accountability standards of Wisconsin’s public schools. The falsehood of Gov. Walker’s sudden compromise plan is exposed by the laissez-faire think tanks trying to pump artificial life into this dying plan.

The death bell tolls on the voucher proposal as school leaders, communities, and, surprisingly, some Wisconsin GOPers have come out against the expansion of private school vouchers. This free market fantasy has been beaten and battered by reality for the past two decades in Wisconsin. Comprehensive research shows public schools outperform voucher schools and voucher funds mostly help those who do not need help.

Staff Swap: A Revealing School Experiment

Mixed in with voucher and school choice nonsense, Wisconsin Gov. Walker pitched yet another useless and wasteful education reform this past week that panders to his free market-minded friends.  

His unproven plan to improve Wisconsin schools involves financially rewarding schools that score well on the state’s flawed school report cards. I suppose Gov. Walker believes the free market fairy will miraculously motivate the staff at underperforming schools to replicate the wisdom of the high-achieving schools in exchange for the almighty green carrot.

This nonsensical proposal presumes that staffs in high-needs schools around the state are failing because educators lack the motivation and/or know-how to help students succeed. As usual, Gov. Walker’s education plan ignores the reality of inequity plaguing our schools.