Professor Ellie Bruecker of the University of Wisconsin at Madison completed a study of the fiscal impact of the statewide school vouchers in Wisconsin. It was published by the National Education Policy Center.
Here is the executive summary:
“Executive Summary
“In 1989, Wisconsin created the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the nation’s first publicly funded private school voucher program. Over the next two decades, the Milwaukee program was steadily expanded, but remained the sole voucher program in the state. In 2011, Wisconsin added a voucher program in Racine (RPCP), and in 2013 it created the statewide Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (WPCP). Initially the statewide program was limited to 500 students and 25 schools in its first year and 1,000 students and 50 schools in its second. In 2015, the state legislature lifted the cap on participating schools and students, but limited student participation to a percentage of district enrollment—currently 2% for the 2017-18 school year. The cap will gradually increase by 1% each year until it is eliminated in 2026. Wisconsin Act 55 (2015) additionally amended the funding of the WPCP.
“Previously funding had been provided by a state general purpose revenue allocation; Act 55 generates voucher funding for incoming students by deducting the cost of a student’s voucher from the state aid allocated to the school district in which a student resides.
“As a result, the program now shifts millions of dollars from public school districts to private schools. The fiscal impact of the statewide voucher program, however, is not evenly distributed across Wisconsin’s public schools.
“This policy memo describes how the statewide Wisconsin Parental Choice Program alters the relative share of public education spending borne by the state and by local districts and estimates the differential fiscal impact of the program on Wisconsin school districts. The analysis finds that school districts could lose a substantial portion of their state aid as participation in the voucher program grows, and that small districts would be the most negatively affected.
“Currently, participation rates in the statewide program are low and students in some districts lack access to voucher schools. Nevertheless, this analysis finds that the majority of students currently eligible to participate in the program live within range of a voucher school and that, even given low participation rates, the program will have a significant effect on the fiscal support the state provides to local school districts. As more states enact or expand their voucher programs, the case of Wisconsin demonstrates that one-size-fits-all statewide programs have the potential to exacerbate funding disparities in the public system.”
You can read the report here .
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I find the voucher system to a travesty. If anything, we need a well funded public school system. Period. I grew up in CA in the 50’s and 60’s when the CA school system had the reputation of being one of, if not thee, best school system in the nation. In 8th grade, I remember studying ‘mans inhumanity to man’–talk about progressive as we broke into groups for discussion. Critical thinking was part of our education. Today, as I am a retired teacher who subs regularly, I am shocked at high school students who don’t know their math facts, students who cannot write grammatically correct sentences, penmanship that is not legible, and an overall inability to think critically. Robert Kennedy, Jr. put it very well when he said that our society is the most well entertained and least informed. In no way do we remain “the greatest country in the world” and on our present path, we will only continue to decline. The government puts our money into war and weapons, and less and less into education…(and the environment, universal healthcare, keeping jobs here, etc.). Where the government spends money, reflects what it values. And it ain’t us…nor the people of the world, for that matter.
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Thank you for your insightful comments. Many of our leaders have abandoned public education and the ideals it represents. Education has been tossed in the havoc of the marketplace, which I firmly believe, is about as wrongheaded as we can get. Public education is a “common good” and democracy in action. If we give up on investing in our young people, we will pay the price. As you point out, we may already be going down that road. We have given the reins of public funds to those that do not value public schools, and we have allowed billionaires and corporations to dictate policies. No good will come from this reckless commodification of our young people.
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Just a note to say I always enjoy yr commentary, retired teacher, & it almost always echoes my own sentiments. Those who think of govt– & govt bureaucracy– as alien & counter to their own interests have somehow lost the thread of what democracy is, & how to make their voices heard.
It’s an attitude I have often come up against as a small-townie who migrated in early adulthood to the city (“you can’t fight City Hall”), & I almost understood it– but it really confounds me coming today from small-town & rural-outpost America. Those are places where it’s much easier to organize & voice public sentiment. I can’t help but wonder if it’s coming from a place of tired, over-worked underpaid folks who can’t manage to participate? I think there are many more folks like that today than there were in my growing-up yrs [’50’s/ ’60’s]; my community was vibrant & vocal & very politically engaged…
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Today fewer than half the people vote. Many other countries hold elections on Sundays which for many working people is the only day they can breathe.
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Correction
More than half – not less than half.
In 2016, 139-million people voted and there were almost 235.5 million elligible voters. The rest of the population are not citizens or they are children. There are 74.2 million children under the age of 18.
59-percent of eligible voters voted.
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I can really relate to what you’re saying here. As a ’66 hisch graduate in NYS, & a NYS college student contemplating a teaching career, I was proud that NYS hisch diploma– & NYS teaching certif [then interchangeable w/CA teaching cert]– were considered par w/ gold-std CA. How far both states have fallen in 40+ yrs, both thro a conservative revolt [in yr state perhaps more due to influx of poor Mexican immigrants, in mine due to loss of mfg ] — w/ citizens seeking to lower their tax input to ed regardless of economic consequences.
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Disgusting!
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A significant report. Wish I could cut & paste from it to comment, but format doesn’t allow. What I gleaned broad-brush was that WI’s 20+-yr charter/ voucher experiment (which was long restricted to Milwaukee & carefully titrated)– held up by many a pro-school-cboice article as proof that privatization works– has experienced dilution of results & a comcomitant push-pull of inconsistent & unequal effects on school districts [often harmful to taxpayers] as WI has step-wise expanded its school-choice/ charter/ voucher program into the state.
Prognostications for the future are not good: increased taxes will be reqd to support this program despite almost-certain worse/ more unequal [district-to-district] results. I suspect there will be revolt, as it appears many districts will experience higher local taxes going to support other districts offering more “choice”, w/o change in their local offerings…
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