Compiled by MCJ Editorial Staff
State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff believes public education is Wisconsin’s soul. Yet, he wants to drive a stake through the right of low-income, minority parents to choose where to send their children for a quality education.
That stake is a bill introduced recently by the Milwaukee Democratic legislator, which would dismantle the state’s increasingly popular voucher program, also known as the Milwaukee Parental School Choice program.
Brostoff’s legislation, called “The Public Education Reinvestment Act,” would begin phasing out the Choice programs by barring any new students and schools from participating beginning with the 2020-21 school year.
The state lawmaker claims the current funding system (vouchers) siphons resources from public schools, which are then blamed for poor results. “The system is wildly unfair,” Brostoff reportedly said.
Brostoff’s proposal has drawn criticism throughout the Black community. Among the criticisms is that he and state Sen. Chris Larson—who is a candidate for Milwaukee County Executive—are products of private schools.
Several colleagues and supporters of state Rep. David Crowley—who is also running for the County Executive position—note that Brostoff’s proposal was timed to provide Larson with an issue as he heads into the primary election. Brostoff is a former member of Larson’s senate staff.
During an interview at the MCJ’s offices, Brostoff ran off a litany of things he does not like about Parental School Choice—what he called “voucher schools.”
“I want the whole education system fixed…I don’t want shortcuts,” the lawmaker said. “I don’t think it’s fair to sacrifice the many for the few. I’m looking for a revolution. I want great schools in every neighborhood of Milwaukee.”
One alleged flaw of voucher schools Brostoff pointed to was their ability to pick and choose what students they wanted; they don’t have to accept students with disabilities or other reasons that make them undesirable. “Public schools are for the public. They have to take everyone.”
(Editor’s note: Brostoff’s claim that voucher schools and pick and choose its students is false. Voucher schools are prohibited by state law from engaging in that practice.)
Brostoff claimed Choice/voucher schools have various sources of funding besides state dollars, noting wealthy conservative donors and the Catholic Church, which has schools that participate in the program.
Milwaukee’s public schools have at least three mandated revenue sources: local property taxes, the state and federal governments.
By focusing all state dollars on public schools and their programs (coupled with reduced class sizes), Brostoff believes the district can become a magnate for families looking to relocate to a city (Milwaukee) with an excellent school system.
“We can be a real leader in that regard,” said the legislator. “It would be better for everyone.”
Brostoff also believes private voucher schools in the program are too focused on dollars instead of education.
Asked if he realized his bill would close successful choice schools—dooming their students to a public school system where many of the schools are dysfunctional—and what would he say to the affected students, Brostoff said he hopes the voucher schools succeed, but they should be able to succeed without public subsidies.
“I would say: ‘Great! You and others (students) deserve access to quality schools and deserve the best education possible; and get the best individual attention you deserve…but so should every student in Milwaukee.”
Brostoff said the reinvestment in neighborhood schools will create the type of schools students and their parents are proud to attend, or send their children to.
The lawmaker said the billions of dollars spent on the Foxconn deal could have gone to improving the quality of public education. “We could take our (state) dollars and reinvest in schools, transit, and parks. That would be a better investment.”
Jim Bender of School Choice Wisconsin, which co-sponsored with Hispanic’s for School Choice a National School Choice Week event in Madison recently in which Vice President Mike Pence spoke, called Brostoff’s measure a non-serious proposal from somebody who can’t cite local facts and is pushing the same old talking points.
Wisconsin is home to the nation’s oldest voucher program, Milwaukee Parental Choice, which began in 1990 as a way to allow primarily Black children in Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods to opt out of poorly performing public schools.
In 1998, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found it was constitutional for religious schools to receive state funding, setting the stage for the expansion of the program statewide.
Today, more than 43,000 children attend private, mostly religious, schools in Wisconsin through four separate voucher programs — Milwaukee, Racine and Wisconsin Parental Choice programs; and a statewide program for special-needs students.
Those cost taxpayers just under $350 million last year, much of that deducted from local public schools, which then must decide whether to cut their own programs or raise local property taxes. In recent years, most of the expansion has been in communities outside of Milwaukee and Racine.
Voucher proponents argue their schools save the state money because they educate the students for less money.
Though the 30-year-old program has been a lightning rod of controversy and criticism from Democrats, liberals, the state Department of Public Instruction, and the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA), the organization representing Milwaukee public school teachers, it has a successful track record in educating low-income, minority children.
A recent article in the Community Journal (“State education department ‘report card’ reveals Milwaukee choice schools out do city’s public schools”–November 13, 2019) noted of the 156 charter schools analyzed in the report, 134 met or exceeded expectations.
Those “expectations” include standardized tests, student achievement, and how the school performs in improving students’ overall achievement over the course of a school semester.
Brostoff’s bill, which would also lower-class sizes, has very little chance of passing since state Republicans–who have historically supported tax-funded vouchers for private schools–control both houses of the Legislature.
“I think the legislation will pass,” Brostoff said confidently. “I don’t know if it will be in this (legislative) cycle, but it will pass.”
–Source for this article: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. MCJ Editor Thomas Mitchell, Jr. contributed to this story.