School choice supporters celebrate new school funding law in Wisconsin

(The Center Square) – The list of congratulations and celebrations from school choice supporters in Wisconsin continues to grow.

Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday quietly signed a new school funding law that will send $1 billion more to public schools in Wisconsin, and earmarks millions more for choice schools in the state,

“This is a great day that is the result of months of hard work by parents, schools and supporters across the state. Wisconsin is a pioneer in parent choice, and these historic, bipartisan investments will help ensure that students have the high-quality educational options they deserve,”  School Choice Wisconsin President Nicholas Kelly said Tuesday.

“By shrinking the substantial funding gap between district and choice schools, charter and voucher schools will be in a better position to retain teachers, offer the programming that parents want, and drive incredible academic results across the state. This is great news for the future,” Institute for Reforming Government CEO CJ Szafir said in a statement.

Lawmakers who’ve supported school choice for years also got in on the congratulations and celebrations.

“Our students need to be career and community ready, and they need to be able to go to wherever that child flourishes,” Rep. John Macco, R-Ledgeview, added. “By investing over $1 billion in additional funding for all schools, we provided parents with more opportunities to find their child’s perfect fit. No child is alike, and our school system should not be one size fits all. This investment is for the betterment of our kids, and Wisconsin’s future.”

The new law will eventually increase voucher payments from $8,399 to $9,874 per-student for younger students and from $9,045 to $12,368 for high school students.

Not everyone is happy with more money going toward choice schools.

The Wisconsin Public Education Network on Tuesday said the governor betrayed public schools by signing the school choice funding plan.

“This deal will provide private voucher schools more guaranteed state aid than the average public school is even allowed to spend per student, while public schools will see a less-than-inflationary increase to state aid and a less than 2% increase to special education,” the Network said. “With voucher enrollment caps set to come off entirely in 2 years, this is the most reckless and irresponsible thing Wisconsin could do with its massive surplus, especially when we consider that the nearly 80% of students participating in the statewide voucher program never attended a public school.”