Voucher “Decoupling” and Its Impacts

media release: Public school supporters are invited to join the Wisconsin Public Education Network on Wed. Jan. 15 at 7:30pm for a special virtual meeting with policy experts on the topic of voucher "decoupling." What does this really mean to public schools and the larger privatization agenda?

Voucher lobbyists and privateers have been pushing legislation that would change the way the state funds private school vouchers by “decoupling” them from education spending as a separate budget item. This bill was rejected last session, but is predicted to come back in 2025 and a similar proposal is under consideration by school board members as a resolution at the upcoming State Education Convention (Jan. 22-25 in Milwaukee). We’ve been fielding a lot of questions and concerns on this and have invited some experts to help us unpack what it all means in a special meeting this Wed. at 7:30 pm via zoom. Registration required.

Under the proposal, the state would fund private school vouchers at a guaranteed amount directly from general purpose revenue (GPR) in the state budget process, making it easier to “insulate the [voucher] program from constitutional challenge” according to the pro-privatization organization Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.  Join us to learn more about “decoupling” and what it really means with Anne Chapman from the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) and Christopher Thiel (Milwaukee Public Schools).

Some states, like Florida and Arizona, already have universal voucher programs fully “decoupled” from public schools. We’ll talk to Beth Lewis of Save Our Schools Arizona and Damaris Allen from Families for Strong Public Schools (Florida) about how their programs have impacted students and siphoned money away from public school budgets. 

Join us for a frank and honest discussion on what this proposal could mean to Wisconsin public schools and what happens when voucher programs are not subject to the same accountability and transparency as public schools.

registration will close three hours before the workshop begins.