The Wisconsin government has slashed funding for K-12 public schools while expanding and enriching the state’s voucher program. This is a clear-cut victory for ALEC, the corporate-funded lobby for privatization.
“Since Republicans took over our state Capitol in 2011, they have cut $1.2 billion from public K-12 education. Under this latest budget, 55 percent of school districts will get less general student aid than they did last budget cycle and Wisconsin is spending $1,014 less per public school student than it did in 2008.
“Yet for the private school special interests, this budget was like Christmas morning, with presents that blew the student enrollment caps off the statewide private school voucher program, diverted an additional $600-800 million from public schools over the next decade and increased per-pupil spending in the statewide private voucher system more than what even Governor Walker had proposed. The cherry on top was the last minute, late night passage of the special needs voucher program, which funds private schools for special needs students without requiring specialized instruction, teacher training or current legal protections.”
Way to go, Scott Walker, in meeting your goal of destroying public education. Way to go in destroying a historic democratic institution.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
We need to raise our sights to the bigger picture. The war on teachers and public education is only one front in a larger war that has more to do with power than mere economics.
“The most far-reaching model bill the ALEC Education Taskforce adopted, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), was pushed by AFC, and recently adopted in Nevada. Public monies are deposited into individual student accounts that parents may spend on any educational system. According to Nevada lead sponsor state senator Scott Hammond, this bill impacts 94 percent of public school students and will open up the floodgates to private schools in Nevada, sending “shockwaves” throughout the country.”
Is there any analysis of the effects of ed reform on students in existing public schools in any of these states that are led by “movement” ed reformers? It’s just remarkable that the vast majority of children ended up with no political representation.
The Kasich Administration took over Youngstown public schools relying on a “cabinet” that didn’t have a single person representing the interests of children in public schools there. It’s as if they don’t exist.
“It happened through a series of meetings with leaders in Columbus and members of a so called “cabinet” including the president of Youngstown State University, the Bishop of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese, a former Youngstown Superintendent, and the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce president, Tom Humphries.”
https://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2015/08/28/with-state-takeover-looming-school-begins-in-youngstown-2/
Camel I have a tent I’d like you to meet.
I am also stuck on this rather slippery slope that people keep saying I am over exaggerating.
“Ed reform is about improving public schools” is the biggest political lie of the last decade.
“Bait and switch” doesn’t begin to describe what they’ve done.
Wisconsin…winning the race to the bottom. Neck and neck was a few of the southern states…sooooo sad.
Michigan may be neck and neck.
Indiana was in that race too…but I think Wisconsin has pulled ahead today.
The cherry on top was the last minute, late night passage of the special needs voucher program, which funds private schools for special needs students without requiring specialized instruction, teacher training or current legal protections.
If the feds are paying attention they can initiate legal action on this comparable to some long-delayed action in Georgia for violations of IDEA.
What I don’t understand about these “late night passages” is how these losers expect to get away with it with every bit of legislation freely available on the web. Do they think they can survive the next election if the truth gets out there? Or do they really hold us in such low esteem that they think we’ll continue to vote for them?
Never mind–don’t answer that. We already know how they think about us little people.
Oh, my…
Wisconsin seems to be joining Kansas in stupid moves…
Is it just me, or does it appear special Ed funds are just becoming a legitimized vehicle for shoveling more money at charters in the name of the children?
Would explain why they like not requiring special Ed instruction and also not caring what kind of school it goes to or what disabilities it is accompanying – is there a different plausible explanation?
That comes across then as literally using disabilities as weapons against the students needing services and hurting the communities they come from.