Online public charter school advocates are joining with private school voucher advocates to oppose Governor Tony Evers’ proposed caps on charter schools and parental choice programs.
“We, too, have been the target of arbitrary enrollment caps and heartless attempts by the education bureaucracy to slowly choke away opportunities for our kids,” said Ty Babinski, President of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families (WCVSF) in a statement Monday. “We oppose these latest attempts to squash education reform; they are a step backwards, do not help children and are a signal that bureaucrats do not trust parents. We may not be in the crosshairs yet, but if opponents of parents get momentum, we know we’re likely next.”
The WCVSF is bringing their message to the Capitol on Tuesday to oppose Evers’ education plans. The organization specifically opposes Evers’ plan to freeze enrollment in the state’s private school voucher programs. The WCVSF also opposes Evers’ plan to stop the authorizations of new independent charter schools and Evers’ proposal to prevent new students from enrolling in the state’s Special Needs Scholarship Program.
Support from the WCVSF was welcomed by the state’s leading school choice supporting organizations.
“This budget puts politics ahead of children with unnecessary friction over how a child is educated,” said Jim Bender, President of School Choice Wisconsin. “Public charter school parents have faced these same misguided political battles over the last 15 years. We welcome their support in our efforts.”
The American Federation for Children agreed with Bender in welcoming the support.
“The Governor’s proposal to ‘freeze’ the parental program and limit charter school expansion with arbitrary caps is somewhat duplicitous and malevolent. The program is already ‘capped’ every year by the amount of demand,” said Justin Moralez, Wisconsin State Director, American Federation for Children. “Just because families continue to embrace education options outside of their assigned school does not mean the Government should step in and seize control from a parent over what is the best learning environment for their child. This limits success and opportunity. We look forward to collective cross-sector collaboration and hope that it helps enhance the achievement of all schools.”
