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Does Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers want to block expansion of the school choice program?

By Jacob Alabab-Moser
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YES

For his 2023-25 budget, Gov. Tony Evers proposed freezing enrollment in schools participating in a parental choice program for next school year at 2023-24 enrollment levels.  

Evers' office said the freeze would entail "allowing families continued access to private schools while affirming the state’s commitment to robust funding for Wisconsin’s excellent public schools." The Democratic governor made a similar proposal to freeze enrollments in 2019 that was rejected by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Proponents of expanded school choice criticized the proposal, including the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. WILL Research Director Will Flanders said "a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model does not meet the educational needs of every student."

Other education proposals in Evers' budget include a $2.6 billion funding increase for K-12 public schools, which he described as the "second largest proposed direct investment in state general aids since ... 1995-97."

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Office of the Governor | State of Wisconsin Press release: Gov. Evers announces budget initiatives to do what’s best for kids, support K-12 schools
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Gov. Tony Evers seeks to freeze enrollment in private voucher schools, suspend charter school expansion
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty WILL responds to Evers freezing school choice enrollment
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wisconsin school choice program affects property taxes unnecessarily, the fix is simple
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.