The Blum Center's Educational Freedom Report
Special Issue: Trailblazing in Wisconsin
No. 23 - June 29, 1995
- Editor's
View of the Wisconsin Breakthrough
True school choice is beginning in Wisconsin. The snowball-down-the-hill graphic above portrays what I hope will be the start of the dismantling of educational finance monopoly (EFM). The significance of the Wisconsin action summarized in what follows is potentially immense. In the words of the Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader, Scott R. Jensen:
- Many of the education reform provisions in the budget have been characterized as "a power grab." In the area of school choice, this characterization is right on target, but not the way choice opponents would have you believe. School choice does grab power. It grabs power away from the educrats in Madison and gives it to parents in Milwaukee. It grabs power from the entrenched status quo and gives it to educational pioneers and reformers. It grabs power from the teachers' union and gives it to children intent on getting the best education possible wherever it is offered, be it a public school, private school, or parochial school.
The fight for education reform in Wisconsin is not over. Our opponents have promised court challenges and will no doubt work to elect a Legislature in 1996 that will overturn the gains made by this Legislature. But despite the challenges that still lie ahead, we have gained a critical foothold in at last bringing real education reform to the parents and children of the state. In the words of Churchill in the wake of the Allies' victory in North Africa, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But perhaps it is the end of the beginning."
I think Representative Jensen has it exactly right: tremendously important, but more a start than a finish. The full significance of the Wisconsin action will be seen in the future. It is important and good in itself, of course. But will it be a precursor of full, general parental freedom, in its own state, and in other states able now to benefit from its example? The great work for school choice advocates everywhere is still ahead, not behind. But it will be easier work, more joyous work, because true if limited school choice at last has been provided to some Milwaukee parents.
This program, and others which may soon arise in the District of Columbia, Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, in a very practical, concrete way, will give the lie to the smoke screens so long used to obstruct parental freedom. EFM will be seen for what it has always been: a protection for financial advantage through now-endangered political control.
Governor Tommy G. Thompson, Representative Annette Polly Williams, Mayor John Norquist, Representative Scott Jensen and others deserve full political credit. The 1993 decision of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce to concentrate on achieving school choice for the parents of the city's most endangered youngsters contributed greatly to ultimate success, as did the excellent work of Susan Mitchell, Zakiya Courtney, et al., in following up this initiative.
At the same time that we cheer the snowball starting down the hill in Wisconsin; and acknowledge the excellent political leadership which made these events possible; we want to recall the earlier, less dramatic, long-time efforts of innumerable people whose work for school choice had the effect of pushing the snowball up the hill so that it could finally begin its descent, gathering mass and momentum as it goes. One thinks, for example, of Wisconsin State Senator John Plewa, whose work for parental freedom goes back nearly a quarter century, and former Wisconsin Representative Rosemary Hinkfuss, an early and staunch defender of parents' rights. Such people as these played a huge role in getting people to think outside the suffocating categories of educational finance monopoly.
Finally, we want at this happy moment to look forward as well as back, and realize that the Wisconsin breakthrough is just the start. Indeed, the only bad result it could have would be a false sense of ultimate achievement, for that would tend to sap the energy and divert the focus of school choice advocates so disposed. My advice to all such people, for what it's worth: Rejoice! Be glad! But be not satisfied! The best way to see the Wisconsin victory is as a splendid tool that, properly used, can make your own work easier.
THE BASIC FACTS
Today Wisconsin was assured of having the first legislatively-approved true school choice program on the American mainland. This occurred when the State Senate approved the expansion of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to include religiously-based schools and greatly expanded numbers of eligible students. MPCP expansion, previously approved by the State Assembly, is thus certain to be in the new State Budget for 1995-97, and, since he initiated it by including it in the Executive Budget, the Governor is certain to approve MPCP expansion. Court challenges can be expected from the status quo's defenders, and could delay implementation, but should not finally impede the new MPCP.THE "WINTER-SPRING OFFENSIVE"
After Gov. Thompson on January 14 announced his intention to include MPCP expansion in his budget the usual defenders of EFM commenced an offensive in an attempt to deter the process of enacting MPCP expansion. John Witte, hired by the Department of Instruction to evaluate the original MPCP, defended his report highlighting MPCP's deficiencies in a lengthy February 13 letter to Wisconsin legislators. This letter was in response to a critique of Witte's evaluation by Professor Paul Peterson, who called Witte's work biased and incomplete. Richard Collins, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), Wisconsin's largest teachers union, also threatened to organize private school teachers if MPCP were expanded drastically. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 03/31/95) On several occasions, the Department of Public Instruction Superintendent, John Benson, publicly criticized the Governor for his attempts to expand MPCP, accusing Thompson of "sacrific[ing] the school system" through malevolent "sabotage." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 01/19/95, 01/27/95, 03/03/95) Mordecai Lee, president of the Wisconsin Coalition for Public Education, called the plan a violation of church and state, claiming that MPCP expansion would directly fund witchcraft and "hate" schools. (Capital Times, 01/16/95) After a number of local businesses publicly showed support for school choice in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel advertisement, Richard Collins, president of WEAC, threatened them with the equivalent of boycott in a March 22nd letter to community leaders.THE POLITICAL CONFIGURATION
All such attempts by the defenders of EFM to defeat MPCP expansion were unable to stem the tide unleashed by the November 8, 1994, elections. After November 8, the political configuration of state government was: headed by Republican Governor Thompson; both houses of the legislature with Republican majorities—the Assembly 51(R) to 48(D), and the Senate 17(R) to 16(D); also, the Joint Finance Committee, which played a large part in the passage of MPCP expansion, had a 12-4 Republican majority. Of course, from the Blum Center's perspective, the importance of this new configuration was not because of a triumph of Republicans over Democrats, but a loss of control by EFM's political partners in the Wisconsin legislature. The November elections represented a gain of control by those who are more supportive of parental freedom and school choice, and by those who, whatever their attitude toward school choice, owed nothing to EFM's defenders and beneficiaries.THE GOVERNOR'S PROPOSAL
On February 14, Gov. Thompson presented his budget proposal to the legislature, which included a provision to expand MPCP. The program currently allows a maximum of 1,500 students to attend non-sectarian private schools in Milwaukee. Under the Governor's original plan, the enrollment caps in the program would have been raised to 3,500 in the fall of 1996, then to 5,500 in the next year, after which the enrollment limitation would have been eliminated. Also, parents would have been able to choose any private school through the program, including religious schools. The vouchers would have been worth $3,300 per pupil, and the cap would have increased by the rate of inflation in subsequent years. The Governor's plan also called for the dismantling of Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction, to be replaced by a Department of Education. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 01/15/95)LEGISLATIVE MODIFICATION
Before the package was accepted, it was modified through the legislative process. On May 12, the Joint Finance Committee voted 11-5 to support an even larger expansion proposal, sponsored by Representative Annette "Polly" Williams, the original sponsor of MPCP. Rep. Williams' plan increased the fall, 1995, enrollment to 7,000, after which the enrollment would be capped at 15,000. With these changes, the program would cost $25 million in the first year and $39 million in the following year. The beginning voucher amount would be worth the current MPCP voucher amount, $3,209. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 05/13/95) The modifications made by the Assembly in its deliberations will involve some minor increase in the amount of expenditure over the Joint Finance Committee's amount.View a different issue of the Freedom Report Return to Blum Center Home Page
- Many of the education reform provisions in the budget have been characterized as "a power grab." In the area of school choice, this characterization is right on target, but not the way choice opponents would have you believe. School choice does grab power. It grabs power away from the educrats in Madison and gives it to parents in Milwaukee. It grabs power from the entrenched status quo and gives it to educational pioneers and reformers. It grabs power from the teachers' union and gives it to children intent on getting the best education possible wherever it is offered, be it a public school, private school, or parochial school.
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The Blum Center grants full permission for all of its documents to be copied, in part or in whole, to extend the reach of the Center's messages and information. We appreciate it when our readers keep us apprised of state and national developments in the area of school choice, particularly legislative developments. Any Blum Center documents not available on our web page may be obtained by contacting us by telephone, fax, or mail. Virgil C. Blum Center for Parental Freedom in Education Brooks Hall, Room 209 Marquette University * P.O. Box 1881 * Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881 Phone: 414-288-7040* Fax: 414-288-3170 E-mail: blumcenter@vms.csd.mu.edu |
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