JS: Tensions rise as vouchers pick up traction across Wisconsin


I have to fix the quotation css styles here so bear with me: 
For the first time, the Chilton School District could face either an enrollment drop because children will use a voucher to attend the local Catholic school they couldn't otherwise afford, or more likely, the district will have to raise taxes to fund vouchers for children who already attend the private school.
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Liz Rollmann has been principal of Chilton Area Catholic School for more than a decade, during which student enrollment dropped from 140 to just 83 students.

"There is great support for Catholic education here," said Rollmann. "The problem is, a lot of families can't afford it."

When the priest of Good Shepherd Catholic Church announced in January that the school would join the voucher program this fall, parishioners applauded.
full article at JS

Cough...

I'm not sure the article is completely fair, the family gets a tax rebate, there isn't direct funding from the state.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If I read the article correctly, local private schools, if they are participating in the school voucher program are eligible to receive, starting this fall, $7500-$8000 per student from the local public school district. The max number of students a private school can receive funding for is capped at 2% of the local public school student population. That $7500 per student fee is levied directly against the local property tax payer. It does not come from the state. I'm not sure how the voucher program works since schools are operating under revenue limits. It seems that levying for vouchers may be outside revenue limits (as is debt service). If I were in administration for a private school, I would be concerned that, if the political winds changed in the future, the voucher program might go away. It seems that expenses can easily increase to match revenue. When revenues drop, cutting expenses is hard. Dancing with the devil (a.k.a. the government) can be tricky sometimes....