A recent opinion piece by Cate Zeuske, a board member of School Choice Wisconsin and former treasurer of the State of Wisconsin, promoted the idea that decoupling school voucher funding from public school funding would be a win-win for public schools and voucher schools.
As proposed, public schools would continue to be funded via property taxes. Taxpayers would pay for voucher schools through the state’s General Purpose Revenue fund. Wisconsin does not need two separate, taxpayer-funded school systems.
Zeuske argued that decoupling would eliminate taking money from public schools to pay for vouchers by separating the funding sources. Decoupling is simply a shell game, where voucher school tax dollars are moved from one highly regulated account to one that has less oversight.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, in 2024-25, taxpayers spent a total of $310,844,795.10 on vouchers (not including Independent Charter School payments or the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program). Brown County school district taxpayers paid the following:
Zeuske argues that public school districts can raise property taxes to recoup the lost funding. This is not possible without a referendum, due to state-imposed revenue caps. She claims that one less child in a public school results in an equivalent reduction in cost to the district. Using an average pupil cost does not account for the varying costs of educating any individual child. Public schools educate all children, including those with special needs. Special education services are costly.
Local voucher schools show little interest in educating high-cost learners. A local voucher high school states in its educational guide a list of 11 student supports it does not provide, but are commonly provided by public schools. This, followed by the caveat, “If (our school) cannot provide for the educational, health and safety needs of the student without substantive modifications to instruction, real or potential financial impact for the school, while maintaining an effective academic environment for all students, the student’s enrollment will be terminated.”
Further, the school’s admissions webpage states, “Students reading significantly below grade level will experience a low probability of success.” Public schools do not refuse enrollment to any students based on costs or the likelihood of success. The same cannot be said for, or demonstrated by, private voucher schools.
Public schools are required to share the academic performance of all students via the Department of Public Instruction’s annual Report Card. Budgets are public documents. Board meetings are open to the public so taxpayers can have input on how money is spent. None of these are required of voucher schools.
Moving voucher school payments into the General Revenue Fund will further obscure what educational services tax dollars are buying. Taxpayers will, however, be obligated to pay for every eligible student to attend a non-public voucher school if decoupling becomes law. Voucher payments, combined with the state Legislature’s underfunding of special education, excessively burden local property taxpayers.
Public schools and voucher schools have coexisted for decades. But if voucher advocates hope to improve relations and discourse, let’s start by holding voucher schools to the same transparency standards as public schools. That would truly empower taxpayers to make informed decisions about the costs and benefits of the school voucher system.
Submitted by Ashwaubenon School District: Jennifer Vyskocil, board president; Kurt Weyers, retiring superintendent; and Andrew Bake, incoming superintendent. De Pere School District: Adam Clayton, board president, and Christopher Thompson, superintendent. Denmark School District: Katie Rabenhorst, board member, and Luke Goral, superintendent. Green Bay School District: James Lyerly, board president, and Vicki Bayer, superintendent. Howard-Suamico School District: Greg Klimek, board president, and Mark Smith, superintendent. Luxemburg-Casco School District: Linda Jonet, board member, and Jo-Ellen Fairbanks, superintendent. Pulaski School District: Heidi Melzer, board president, and Allison Space, superintendent. West De Pere School District: Jenni Fuss, board president, and Jason Lau, superintendent.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin needs transparency in voucher school funding, not decoupling | Opinion
Reporting by Submitted by the district leadership of Ashwaubenon, De Pere, Denmark, Green Bay, Howard-Suamico, Luxemburg-Casco, Pulaski, and West De Pere School Districts / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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