A bill that would increase taxpayer-funded tuition payments to private voucher schools and independent charter schools is making its way through the Wisconsin State Capitol.
The school funding bill is part of a shared revenue deal reached by Gov. Evers and Republicans that would allow municipalities to raise more revenue.
Right now, Wisconsin’s school choice programs receive around $8,000 to $9,000 per student, which they say is much less than their school district counterparts.
Howard Fuller, a longtime school choice activist who founded independent charter school Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, said that school has to fundraise about $600,000 every year just to keep going.
"So the reason this is lifeblood issue for us — this bill — is because we can't continue to raise $600,000 a year. It's not sustainable," Fuller testified to the Assembly Education Committee Tuesday.
Under the legislation, charter and choice schools would get between about $1,000-$3,000 more per student to spend on staff, supplies, and other expenses.
Edward DeShazer, director of Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy in Milwaukee, said increasing the voucher payments would help schools like his.
"The increase in the voucher will have a major impact to our ability to increase teacher pay and to offer the services that our children deserve," DeShazer said.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, touted the bill as an expansion of school choice, saying it could allow private voucher schools to open an additional 20,000 seats.
The bill would also help low-revenue limit public school districts by allowing them to spend $1,000 more per student in state aid and property taxes.
Public school advocates are typically aligned with Evers, but they object to the school funding deal he helped create. Ingrid Walker-Henry, with the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, condemned the legislation as a “massive giveaway” for private religious schools.
"And if it makes it to his desk, Gov. Evers would be betraying the trust of Wisconsin’s public school students, workers and communities if he did anything but veto it," Walker-Henry said.
But some Democrats are reluctantly getting on board with the deal. Sen. LaTonya Johnson, a Democrat from Milwaukee, voted for it at a Joint Finance Committee meeting Tuesday.
Johnson criticized Republicans for tying school funding to a shared revenue agreement that would save Milwaukee from a financial crisis.
"I am going to vote for this bill to do what is right for my kids," Johnson said. "But I also want to say that that was some bullshit. Something that should never happen in Capitol. We should never use our kids as a pawn."
The bill is scheduled for a Senate floor vote Wednesday. The Legislature will soon finish its work on the state budget before sending it to Gov. Evers for approval or veto.
Editor's Note: Committee audio provided by Wisconsin Eye.
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