“Families and businesses in the North have a far greater stake in our state’s natural resources -- it’s a shame that Republican budgets are forcing taxpayers to spend more supporting the voucher operators’ bottom line than supporting the lifeblood of our region,” Sen. Janet Bewley (D-Delta) said. “We knew that state aid cuts were forcing schools to seek property tax dollars to keep the lights on. Under this budget general taxpayers would be forced to pay $33.6 million more for private schools than Wisconsin treasures like our state parks.”
“Northern Wisconsin relies on tourism, sporting heritage and natural resources, not voucher schools,” said Rep. Nick Milroy (D-South Range). “Our land, water and environment are much more of a priority than private schools located overwhelmingly in the southern half of the state.”
Figures from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau show that voucher spending has more than doubled since 2010, now taking up $283 million --1.6% of all general purpose revenue generated by the state’s income and sales taxes. A separate Fiscal Bureau memo earlier this month showed the state payments per pupil to voucher school operators after four GOP budgets would exceed all state aid for 850,000+ public school students by $1,000-$1,700. Voucher supporters attributed the gap to property taxes Wisconsin homeowners pay to make up the difference.
“This shows the administration’s true colors,” said Gary Hebl (D-Sun Prairie). “They make overtures to public schools now that they have a re-election campaign coming up, but their actions speak louder than their words. They put public school kids on the back burner to pursue their own partisan political agendas.”
(Click here for the full press release.)