Happy School Choice Week!
Here in Wisconsin, we are grateful to live in a state with a long history of school choice. Our state was the first to offer a private voucher program over 30 years ago. Since then, the school choice options have only grown, and today, almost 52,000 Wisconsin students enjoy educational options due to school choice! As we celebrate school choice in Wisconsin this week, we have much to be thankful for and much to keep fighting for.
Since 2020, public school enrollment has dropped nationally. Thousands of parents have transferred their children to private, charter, or online schools or have decided to start homeschooling. Thankfully, Wisconsin provides many options—from private and charter schools to homeschooling or a hybrid of the two—that allow parents to make decisions based on each child’s needs.
Wisconsin public schools have open enrollment, allowing parents to choose a public school outside their district for their children to attend. Furthermore, a statewide voucher program enables many parents who might not otherwise be financially able to send their children to private schools.
Wisconsin’s latest school choice legislation, Act 11, passed in September 2023. This act significantly increased state funding of school choice and charter schools, allowing even more parents to choose the right school for their children.
This Wednesday, School Choice Wisconsin is hosting a school choice rally for students, parents, educators, and community leaders throughout the state. Over 1,000 students are anticipated to gather at the Capitol Rotunda in Madison. Events such as this rally send a clear message to the Wisconsin legislature: school choice is important to Wisconsin families.
Parents may choose to enroll their children in choice schools for a myriad of reasons. One reason parents may opt for a choice school is outperformance. A study published by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty in 2023[1] demonstrated that students participating in school choice outperform public school students by 3% in ELA and 2% in math. Schools in the voucher programs have seen many positive results in a variety of areas for their students. School choice allows parents to choose a school that fits their children’s learning needs and interests where they will excel and benefit the most from their education.
More important than educational success, school choice allows parents to choose schools that align with their values. As government schools increasingly push radical and unbiblical views of sexuality, family, and Christianity on younger and younger children, parents must have the right to choose a biblical education for their children.
School choice allows parents to choose schools that will provide their children with a phenomenal education and instill in them a biblical worldview from a young age.
School choice allows parents to choose schools that will provide their children with a phenomenal education and instill in them a biblical worldview from a young age.
The debate surrounding school choice represents one of the great ideological battles in culture and politics today. Who knows what is best for children: the government or parents? The answer is parents! Parents are intimately acquainted with their children and have an ingrained desire to do what is best for them. Furthermore, parents understand each of their children’s different needs. The government cannot possibly know what is best in each family and in each child’s situation.
Parents are far better equipped than the government to choose the right school for their children.
Parents are far better equipped than the government to choose the right school for their children.
This week, we are thankful for over three decades of school choice in Wisconsin. In the months ahead, the best way you can support school choice in Wisconsin is to vote for candidates who support school choice. Wisconsin’s spring election holds significance for the future of school choice in Wisconsin. Click here to read about the candidates and the impact they could have on school choice.
As we celebrate school choice this week, we are aware of the fragility of even our most basic freedoms. We are grateful for the legacy of school choice in Wisconsin and remain dedicated to protecting the rights of parents and students in our state.
