Two Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Wisconsin, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and state representative Francesca Hong, recently pledged during a town hall to eliminate the school choice program. Also seeking to end the voucher system is a simpatico, progressive legal organization, Law Forward, which filed a lawsuit.The Dairy State’s educational opportunity has been available to families since 1990, when Gov. Tommy Thompson joined civil rights groups to pass legislation and create the country’s first school-choice voucher program.Now, about 36 years later, the success of this program and similar ones across the nation is clear, with as many as 23 states and the District of Columbia offering such options. These include diverse voting populations in Maryland and Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
A similar school voucher program has also been offered in my home state of Florida since the 1900s. And in 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed House Bill 1, which established universal school choice by eliminating previous financial eligibility restrictions and removing a prior enrollment cap. The results have been nothing less than remarkable.Measuring student outcomes after high school
