“NoVouchers” group forms to stop expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools
http://bloggingblue.com/2014/10/novouchers-group-forms-to-stop-expansion-of-taxpayer-funded-vouchers-for-private-schools-in-ruralnorthern-wisconsin/
NoVouchers group forms to stop expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools in ruralNorthern Wisconsin
On Monday a grassroots coalition calling itself NoVouchers announced its volunteer members will be working to stop the expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools in rural communities in Northern Wisconsin.
Our group calculated that the cost of funding vouchers for private school students just in Merrill, Wausau, Green Bay and Eau Claire could cost taxpayers at minimum an additional $25.8 million every year, said group founder Pam Kobielus, adding that the annual cost of vouchers statewide has been estimated at $1.2 billion for the 2014-2015 school year.
According to information provided by NoVouchers, for the period from 2001-2014 private school enrollment in Green Bay actually fell 44.9% while public school enrollment rose 3.1%. Since taking office Gov. Scott Walker has slashed funding for public education, leaving school districts like Green Bay to serve a larger population with a smaller amount of funding. As the graph below demonstrates, private school enrollment has actually decreased in Wausau, Merrill, Green Bay, and Eau Claire, and siphoning more money out of the public school system in order to divert it to vouchers for private schools will have a tremendously negative impact on those school districts.
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On top of this, Gov. Walker now wants to give private schools $6,500 of your taxpayer money for each student applicant every year. Remember, the annual cost of vouchers statewide has been estimated at $1.2 billion for 2014-2015. Think about that. Thats $1.2 billion more each and every year to support a second school system that is not accountable to taxpayers!