Democrats’ Rebuttal Takes Swipe at Parental Choice Schools

Religious and independent K-12 schools were largely off the radar during the State of the State address this week, as Gov. Walker focused on higher education and college affordability.

But WCRIS schools did receive a swipe during the official Democratic response to Walker’s speech just moments after it ended when Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca accused Republicans of neglecting education by “shifting $800 million from public schools to unaccountable private voucher schools over the next decade.”

During his address, Gov. Walker noted some achievements of K-12 education, including:

  • The 2015 graduating class had the 2nd highest ACT scores in the USA.
  • The class of 2016 is the first to take the ACT free of charge.
  • Wisconsin 4th and 8th grade reading scores went up again in 2015.
  • Wisconsin’s high school graduation rates are also up again to third best in the country.

In looking ahead, Walker said, “We need to do more to reform state government and put those savings into public education. One area to consider for real reform is the way we administer health insurance for state employees, which some experts believe could save tens of millions of dollars. I commit to investing every penny of savings to the general fund from these specific reforms to support public education.”

The details of that will unfold in the coming weeks but observers think it’s likely that the state will investigate moving to a self-insurance model to cover state employee health benefits — a clever way of restructuring a long-loved public employee benefit since it gives the public sector more financial resources, but only if the system undergoes substantial change.

Gov. Walker also touted plans to provide $3 million more in funding for the “Wisconsin Fast Forward” dual enrollment program run by the Department of Workforce Development. The grants help school districts partner with local technical colleges so high school students can begin training before graduation. You can find more information here.

Private high schools are not included in the program at this time. But WCRIS has long advocated for their inclusion and will continue to do so as WCRIS staff meets with legislators to educate and inform them about how our 600 schools contribute to the state’s educational infrastructure.