A Dairyland Sentinel perspectives column by George Mitchell
Wisconsin’s top education official favors elimination of Wisconsin’s popular and pioneering school choice programs.
Jill Underly’s position puts her squarely at odds with assessments of school performance by professional staff at the Department of Public Instruction. Specifically, DPI Report Cards rank schools in the state’s private choice programs higher than traditional public schools.
Using DPI data, a report released this week from School Choice Wisconsin compares the two sectors. The table below shows private choice schools with higher DPI Report Card scores despite receiving substantially less revenue that public schools.
SCW Board Chair Brenda White says the results are unambiguous: “School choice is Wisconsin’s most cost-effective K-12 investment.”
According to the Marquette Poll and other reliable voter surveys, Underly and other choice opponents are on the wrong side of public opinion. Rather than ending choice, voters favor making all families eligible.
Governor Tony Evers favors curbing school choice options but does not side with Underly’s call for elimination. Evers told the Journal Sentinel last year that ending choice would “be traumatic to a whole bunch of families and kids.”
“DPI’s favorable ranking of school choice confirms that Wisconsin’s education policy should be grounded in giving parents options,” according to Scott Manley, Executive Vice President of Government Relations at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Manley co-chairs the Wisconsin Coalition for Education Freedom, which has worked successfully to strengthen state support for school choice.
George Mitchell is a School Choice Wisconsin volunteer.
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