Gov. Scott Walker hit the road on Wednesday to sell his state budget that lifts the enrollment cap on the private school voucher program while holding funding for public schools flat.
Walker’s plan would allow public school students or kindergarten, first- and ninth-graders from lower-income families statewide to use a voucher to attend a qualifying private school without paying tuition. The state aid that would have gone to the public school district would be redirected to the private school.
At a stop in La Crosse, Walker said the move was “only logical.”
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“If they are providing education for 20 fewer students, why should they be paid for those 20? That money would follow the student to the school that they went to in a way that is very similar to what we do with open enrollment,” said Walker.
State Superintendent Tony Evers said the plan would hurt public school budgets. Betsy Kippers, president of the statewide teachers union, said in a statement that educators and parents will be calling for significant changes to the budget.
More on what was in Walker’s budget can be found here.
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