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Posted on 06/26/2011 6:25:28 PM PDT by george76
With a stroke of a pen, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker today signed a 2011-2012 state budget that dramatically expands the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program to include tens of thousands of working class and middle income families. His signature also means that a brand new school choice program will be established in Racine County.
The budget had previously passed the Senate and House on June 17 by votes of 19-14 and 60-38, respectively.
"This is incredible news that I know would make Milton and Rose Friedman smile," said Robert C. Enlow, President and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, the nation's leading advocate for school choice. "The Friedmans understood the importance of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program to the cause of educational freedom for all children, and they long hoped it would be expanded to include other cities. Today, thanks to the tremendous leadership of Gov. Walker and the state legislature, that hope is fulfilled."
The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has long supported the expansion of the program. For more than a dozen years, the Foundation has undertaken research on the effectiveness of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and provided funding to support the local efforts spearheaded by School Choice Wisconsin.
...
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program will significantly increase the number of families and schools eligible to participate in the program
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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What do they need a school choice program for.
Why would anyone not want to send their children to a school with a 46% drop out/ illiteracy rate and all kinds of exposure to various diverse urban subcultures.
It’s not like the better private schools need more students, they are already filled with with the children of Public School Teachers./s
Well the good Gov. Walker gets demonized for his wise leadership but the lowlife Gov. Cuomo gets worshipped for liberating gay perversions. We shall see further contrasts and results from these 2 as the future unfolds.
I still would not send my kids to public or private school.
These voucher programs often target minority children; I’d like to see one that benefits the people that pay the taxes for these programs as well.
god bless and keep this man safe. who would have thunk it, wisconsin of all places in this country is the last place i would have picked to lead in the restoration of the republic.
lots of sound and fury about R governers for president. well give me this guy. gov walker for president!
I couldn't agree more. Walker has guts in a political party where way too many "Republicans" STILL run like scared bunny rabbits from the dying, dinosaur Democrat newsrooms.
And of course those lucky 22.500 were of course mostly the children of the well connected
I do not support the voucher / school choice programs. This is a band aid to put taxpayers on the hook for more costs, more busing, and taxpayer money going to private schools. There will be those who profit and those who pay more. I suspect most of us will be paying and a few profiting.
The problem isn’t the schools, it’s the gangsta culture and lack of any family support that puts a priority on academic achievement and education. Shipping kids around to other schools isn’t going to change that, but it will cost those of us that are already paying too much in property tax.
The Club for Growth and the Dick Armey Freedom Works are for school choice, and they are also for illegal immigration amnesty, open borders and free trade at US expense. What is good for a select few isn’t always good for the bulk of hardworking middle class Americans.
http://24ahead.com/amnesty-author-mike-pence-president-dick-armey-club-growth-o
http://replacingkaybailey.blogspot.com/2011/06/pro-amnesty-organization-freedomworks.html
There is a similar bill here in Ohio. Seems like theee Republican governors all got together on their agendas?
This program for Wisconsin was started in the 1980’s by a liberal (former welfare mother) who was in the State Legislature. Very liberal on most issues - but the horrid condition of the schools caused Polly Williams to push for a voucher program that would allow parents to move their children to better performing schools. She had a very tough battle against the teacher unions ...but she won.
The benefit to the state and the taxpayers is that since public schools get twice the value of the voucher - when a student moves from state school to private school, the public school looses money, and half the money goes to the private school, and the state (and taxpayer) save half! Other benefits include the fact that parents now get involved (and most private schools require more parental involvement to offset discounted tuition ...and that parental involvement means that the children have a much greater chance of success - - significantly better test scores, lower dropout rates, etc. Do some research on the name “Polly Williams” and Wisconsin School Choice.
This is a win-win-win proposition. (And usually, a parent moving their kid to private school means that they figure out the transportation, provide sack lunches, etc. ...so there are other savings that come to the taxpayer!)
A “burden on society”? That sounds awfully socialistic. Or were all schoolteachers expected to have no family?
good for Wisconsin......
My family doesn’t qualify under those guidelines, and I can’t afford private schools for my children. The 65.1% of families that qualify should be 100%, no exceptions; who do you think the 34.9% that don’t qualify are?
Anything less than 100% is socialist wealth re-distribution.
“The benefit to the state and the taxpayers is that since public schools get twice the value of the voucher - when a student moves from state school to private school, the public school looses money, and half the money goes to the private school, and the state (and taxpayer) save half!”
They are pushing school choice in PA and limited number of vouchers. What I see happening will be taxpayers paying for cost of voucher PLUS paying for the public schools via additional or same property tax. Losing some kids from a school may mean they get less state subsidies, but it won’t save any operating costs. When the school loses money taxpayers make up the difference.
Besides do you see these kids changing behavior? They’ll be tearing down the schools that they go to, and there will be pressures to keep them regardless.
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