Scott Walker’s budget proposal to increase funding in the voucher system will severely cut opportunities and programs for public schools around the state and “decreases opportunities for all students”, including those in special education.
That’s according to an editorial in the Wausau Daily Herald by Rep. Mandy Wright, a mother and former public schoolteacher, who urges Wisconsinites to fight against this proposed system. “Vouchers are fiscally irresponsible,” Wright says. “As former Gov. Tommy Thompson once said, we cannot afford to fund two school systems. We are not adequately funding the one we have now, especially given that our last state budget saw a $550 per pupil decrease in funding.”
Wright also slams the lack of accountability and transparency in voucher schools, noting that, “They do not participate in the school report card system unveiled by the state this year to inform parents, schools and teachers of their students’ educational progress. Private schools also do not need to follow open meetings or public records laws, a bedrock of transparency.”
Read the article in its entirety here.
