Schools

DISCUSSION: Report Compares Private Schools To Public Schools

The school voucher program in Milwaukee and Racine ballooned from 2,200 to 23,200, according to a report by the Public Policy Forum. The report said the state paid out money to schools whose students already attended the school they were going to.

A report by the Public Policy Forum found that Milwaukee Catholic and Lutheran schools outperformed all of the other private schools, but voucher students didn't fare any better than their MPS peers on standarized test scores.

These are just some of the findings in the report, which focused on enrollment trends, standardized test results, and school information.

Enrollment swelled in the Milwaukee and Racine choice programs from 2,200 to 23,200 students. However, the report pointed out that some school choice students had already attended private schools prior to receiving the vouchers, which allows $6,442 of taxpayer dollars to be used on private school tuition. Gov. Scott Walker in his biennial budget last year. This policy change allowed higher income earning families to qualify for the program if they live in the and Milwaukee Public School District.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to a story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Anneliese Dickman, research director for the Public Policy Forum, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research organization, said it is impossible to determine the exact number of new voucher students who were paying tuition at the same schools last year because the state does not ask students what school they attended the previous year.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Dickman said that poverty and racial status are the factors most closely correlated to student outcomes, and schools with high rates of students living in poverty and minority students tend to have lower proficiency rates.

To read more, click here.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here