Bill offering private school vouchers to all students could raise property taxes as much as $577M, DPI says

MADISON – Republicans in the state Assembly passed legislation Tuesday that would make most private school students eligible for a taxpayer-funded tuition subsidy — a plan that could raise property taxes by as much as $577 million, according to an estimate from the state education agency.  

The bill would lift enrollment and household income limits in the state's private school voucher programs, allowing families who are already paying tuition at private schools to start receiving a public subsidy.

Advocates for private school vouchers characterize the property tax estimate by the state Department of Public Instruction as purposefully inflated to deter lawmakers from backing it.

The legislation is part of a slate of Republican-authored education bills approved in the Assembly Tuesday, including the dissolution of the state's largest school district in Milwaukee.

More:Alan Borsuk: Changing the trajectory of MPS has appeal, but breaking it up may create more problems

The bills, if approved in both houses of the Legislature, will likely be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a lifelong public school educator and former state superintendent. But they would likely be resurrected next year if a Republican candidate for governor defeats Evers in November. 

Republicans are proposing a range of new policies for schools, including allowing parents to opt their children out of mask mandates, preventing students from defining their own gender pronouns, and requiring schools to hire armed officers if crime rates are high.

The bills also put a new focus on the teaching of ethnic studies and history about racism and gender discrimination — taking aim at higher education after Evers vetoed similar measures for K-12 schools. 

They also came as school district leaders and Evers have called for lawmakers to use the state's multi-billion-dollar surplus to increase state aid to schools, which were denied inflationary increases in the most recent state budget. 

Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to launch a private-school voucher program for children living in low-income households — in Milwaukee in 1990. Since 2011, Republican lawmakers have expanded the program to include wealthier students and to areas outside of Milwaukee. 

The Department of Public Instruction estimates a bill passed 59-34 Tuesday would raise property taxes by as much as $577 million for residents living outside of Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, the property tax impact would be about a $2 million increase, according to the estimate from DPI. 

"This local property tax hike is over a half of a billion dollars a year and that is to fund a competing school system that began 30 years ago as a little pilot program for our students in poverty," Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Mount Horeb, said. 

But Jim Bender, a lobbyist for voucher advocacy group School Choice Wisconsin, said the agency's estimate is assuming the near impossible.

"Demand will increasingly be greater than the supply but until you change the (voucher) per pupil funding in the budget, you're not going to see a dramatic growth because schools can't afford to do it," Bender said. "So we have a fiscal note from the department that makes an extravagant claim about huge influxes of students this coming fall. They know it's false. I know it's false. They did it anyway to drive a political narrative."

The DPI's analysis of the bill's effect on property taxes assumes an enrollment increase of 67,869 students in the statewide and Racine programs. Currently, a total of 18,392 students are enrolled among private schools participating in those voucher programs.

Overall, 48,919 students are enrolled in the state's four voucher programs, including those in Milwaukee and for students with disabilities. 

Another 35,876 students attend the same private schools but are paying full tuition — many of which would be eligible to begin receiving a voucher to subsidize the cost under the bill passed Tuesday that would lift income limits on all of the state's programs and enrollment limits in the statewide program. 

Overall, about 119,000 students are enrolled in private schools across Wisconsin. 

Property taxes are likely to increase in areas of the state if the bill is implemented because school district officials are allowed under state law to raise revenue to make up for the loss of state aid when students residing in the district enroll in private schools using a private school voucher.

Vouchers provided under the Racine and statewide programs are funded by redirecting the state aid that would have gone to the public school district where the student using a voucher resides. 

Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, said Tuesday that routing public funds to private schools is not a new concept in state government policy, despite Democrats' criticism of it when it comes to the state's private school voucher programs. 

"State public money goes to private entities all the time. We don't build every road here with a government agency or a government-backed monopoly. The state purchases all sorts of goods and services every single day," he said.

"There's nothing strange about this concept and trying to villainize that somehow spending money for education, good education, and using taxpayer (dollars) — that it's somehow so scandalous that it's going to the private sector. Oh my gosh. We do it every day."

Republican Rep. Joel Kitchens of Sturgeon Bay joined Democrats in opposing the bill. 

Charter school expansion

Other bills passed Tuesday could expand charter schools — schools that are allowed more curriculum flexibility but must have public oversight. One would create a new state board that can authorize charter schools, while another would require all authorizers to allow charter school operators to open more schools if they receive high marks from the state Department of Public Instruction.

Another bill approved Tuesday would create a "Parental Bill of Rights" and allow parents to sue governmental bodies or officials when these are violated — a practice that violates model policies shared by DPI for the safety of transgender students. 

Under the bill, parents could sue school staff who use the names and pronouns chosen by their students, if the parents disagree with those names or pronouns. 

The bill also allows parents to review curriculum and opt their children out of classes or curriculum based on religion or personal conviction. It also lists rights to determine medical care, view medical records, engage with school boards and several other points — many of which lawmakers have said are already protected by law. 

Under the legislation, parents would be allowed to sue school officials if one of the following rights were violated:

• "The right to determine the religion of the child."
• "The right to determine the type of school or educational setting the child attends."
• "The right to determine medical care for the child, unless specified otherwise in law or court order."
• "The right to review instructional materials and outlines used by the child's school."
• "The right to request notice of when certain subjects will be taught or discussed in the child's classroom."
• "The right to opt out of a class or instructional materials for reasons based on either religion or personal conviction."
• "The right to visit the child at school during school hours, consistent with school policy, unless otherwise specified in law or court order."
• "The right to engage with locally elected school board members of the school district in which the child is a student, including participating at regularly scheduled school board meetings."

The bill is opposed by more than a dozen groups that lobby on behalf of public schools and board members and is supported by a group that promotes private school vouchers and a legal firm that often represents parents in lawsuits against school districts. 

In a recent legal analysis of the bill commissioned by the School Administrators Alliance, which opposes the bill, attorneys concluded it would "make it extremely difficult for districts to manage and deliver a successful education to all students."

"Every parent will have a slightly different perspective on exercising these parental rights. Even in an intact marital family, parents might disagree on these rights, forcing school districts to attempt to mediate familial disputes to avoid legal action," Attorneys Mike Julka and Brian Goodman wrote in a legal analysis for the group.

"Finally, if the Bill becomes law, schools would have to individualize their approach to each family based on each parental request. Parents that are more assertive in threatening or enforcing their rights under the Bill will be able to control the educational environment for other families. This has the possibility of creating equity issues for students with families that are less assertive in exercising their rights."

Similar “Parents’ Bill of Rights” laws have been proposed around the country by Republicans aiming to curb COVID safety requirements in schools, help parents fight against certain books and curriculum materials, and limit the rights of transgender students.

Assembly Education Committee chairman Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, said the bill is replicating powers already in state law. 

"What is the harm in reaffirming that parents across the state of Wisconsin have a say in their child's education?" Thiesfeldt said on the Assembly floor. 

Republican lawmakers also passed a bill that would require the DPI to measure schools using methods and standards set before the coronavirus pandemic. The bill passed 60-33, along party lines.

If the DPI wants to change how schools are measured for the state report cards, it must use a process known as rulemaking which would give a GOP-controlled committee veto power.

Parents also could opt their children out of school-based mask requirements, under a separate bill authored by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. 

Schools would not be allowed to ask parents for a reason for doing so, and could not treat those children any differently. 

At University of Wisconsin System schools that require students to take a course in diversity or ethnic studies, students would soon have a way to opt-out, under another bill passed in the Assembly. 

Under the bill, a course in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights would be allowed as a substitute. 

Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, D-Milwaukee, said Tuesday education on these documents could miss important education about how different populations have experienced the country's laws and protections. 

"We require ethnic studies because intentionally the Bill of Rights have not equally applied to everyone," he said. 

Contact Molly Beck and Rory Linnane at molly.beck@jrn.com and rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.