A lawsuit filed before the Wisconsin Supreme Court backed by Minocqua Brewing Company last week aims to dismantle the state’s Parental Choice and Special Needs Scholarship programs, as well as independent charter schools in Wisconsin.
WCRIS stands ready to defend WCRIS choice schools and the constitutionality of these programs, if the state Supreme Court takes up the case.
So that you’re prepared for questions from your families, community or the media – and to save you time from reading it – here are the three main points about the programs that filers believe violate the Wisconsin Constitution:
Funding/Uniform Taxation
The filers argue that funding vouchers “appears to be designed more to harm school districts than to support voucher programs. The impact of this financing scheme has been devastating to Wisconsin’s school districts.”
The funding and tax structure is complex and varies between programs. However, the method ultimately chosen by the Legislature wasn’t done out of malice toward public schools. Lawmakers know private schools only enroll 10% of all students. They know that most private school K-8 graduates go on to attend public high schools; therefore, public schools will always be necessary.
Public-purpose Requirement
The lawsuit claims that choice schools don’t serve a public purpose as required by the Wisconsin Constitution.
WCRIS has long argued that choice schools, which educate nearly 55,000 students, serve the common good. As long as the state requires compulsory education, there needs to be parental options.
Supervision by the DPI
The lawsuit claims that choice schools aren’t adequately supervised by the Superintendent of Public Instruction as the Wisconsin Constitution requires, invoking the typical argument that voucher schools “receive minimal oversight and are subject to few standards.”
The WCRIS Legal, Choice and SNSP handbooks would prove otherwise. Feel free to use those as a visual demonstration of all the state laws your schools have to follow, in addition to the Right to Read Act and crime reporting requirements that were just passed by the Legislature. There are also federal regulations and rules that need to be followed.
This is a developing situation. WCRIS – represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) – plans to join other parental choice advocates in defending parental choice.
The choice programs have been in existence for decades and their constitutionality has previously been upheld by both the Wisconsin and United States Supreme Courts.
The bottom line: WCRIS and its allies will be representing and defending choice schools. You are not alone.
In the meantime, you can continue to operate your choice school “business as usual.” Refer to WCRIS’ Media 101 Guide in the Membership Portal for tips on how to effectively and respectfully communicate with the media, if you’re contacted. Always loop in your oversight jurisdiction and then WCRIS.
Please contact WCRIS with questions or concerns. We’re here to serve. And on behalf of our hundreds of member schools and the thousands of children they educate, we will work tirelessly to defend parental choice in Wisconsin.
