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School vouchers provide a means of using tax dollars to help parents send their children to private schools. Proponents of a private or parochial school voucher system proclaim competition will force all schools to become better. Opponents of vouchers contend that scarce resources will be siphoned from public schools and put into private institutions.
Governor Thompson introduced the state's first school voucher proposal in 1989. As part of the biennial state budget, this provision did not pass the Joint Finance Committee. Governor Thompson's second attempt at developing a school voucher program met with success in 1990. Representative Polly Williams, a Milwaukee Democrat, was instrumental in getting bi-partisan support for the proposal.
The new Milwaukee School Voucher Program allowed approximately 1,000 students from low- income households to attend participating private schools. In the first year (1991-92), the 10 participating schools reported enrolling 341 students in the program.
During the 1993-94 legislative session, Representative Polly Williams and Representative Scott Jensen (R- Waukesha) introduced AB 1266. This proposal would have expanded the Milwaukee school voucher plan to include parochial schools, expanded enrollment in the voucher program from 1,000 to 5,000 students and would have eliminated the Department of Public Instruction's administration of a "lottery" selection system for participation in the program. Attempts to pass this legislation failed.
Governor Thompson, in his 1995-97 budget bill, proposed expanding the voucher system to include religious schools and increase the number of eligible students. After this proposal was signed into law, a lawsuit was filed, charging it violated the constitution. The case was fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, which deadlocked on a 3-3 vote and referred it back to a lower court for further study. Currently, the case is being litigated in Dane County Circuit Court.
SB 565, introduced by Senator Weeden at Governor Thompson's request, required voucher schools to create governance structures and be more accountable to state government. This passed the Legislature and became law on April 24, 1996.
Representative Polly Williams introduced AB 1008, which would have made private schools more accountable. This failed to pass the Legislature.
WEAC and WFT are opposed to the use of vouchers for private and parochial schools.
Contact Jack Coe in the Government Relations Division at WEAC at 1-800-362-8034 or 608-276- 7711 with any reactions, comments or questions.
Posted November 19, 1996