Wisconsin Democrats are raising alarm bells after a report showed growth in the state's voucher program payments,surpassing the average per student amount given to public school students.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau report finds payments to voucher schools under Governor Walker's budget would range from $7,700 to $8,400 by next year. Public school students would receive an average of $6,700.
State Senator Janet Bewley, whose district includes parts of Vilas, Iron and Price counties says legislators are thinking about going to what is called a zero-based budget, which means they build each line item from zero dollars.
Bewley says that approach would hurt rural schools...
"....then if you put on top of that that they want to increase the per-pupil spending on vouchers, it just means all the more pressure on rural schools who are already suffering under very retracted budgets..."
Bewley and other Democrats say the statewide voucher program has been funded since 2015 by general aid taken from public school districts.
Proponents like U.S Education Secretary Betsy DeVos say the system gives at-risk kids a better shot at getting a quality education. They say with a voucher, students can attend a school to which their family otherwise couldn't enroll them.
Critics believe the vouchers siphon precious dollars away from public schools, since taxpayer dollars are getting diverted to fund private education.
The Joint Finance Committee is meeting April 21 at Marinette High School to take public input on the budget.
