2026 | Week of January 26| Radio Transcript #1653

Happy School Choice Week! Here in Wisconsin, we are grateful for the many school choice options available to students in our state. We celebrate school choice because it expands opportunities for students and places parents – the ones who know their children best – as the decision makers in their children’s education.

Since the first nationwide school choice voucher program began in Milwaukee in 1990, similar programs have sprung up across the United States. Wisconsin’s statewide voucher program began in 2013 and has experienced rapid growth ever since. This school year, Wisconsin’s voucher programs gained over 2,000 students. Nearly 61,000 students are enjoying the school choice benefits provided by over four hundred participating schools.[i]

Unfortunately, school choice options experience constant attack from staunch supporters of the public education system. Our sister organization, Wisconsin Family Action, consistently supports legislation that provides your family with the most educational choices possible. One current bill expands eligibility for the state's voucher programs by allowing students to participate if their sibling or a dependent child of their parent or guardian was in a parental choice program the previous year, removing prior income and grade-level restrictions for these families.

Another bill in the works in our backyard increases educational alternatives by opting Wisconsin into the federal tax credit scholarship system. This would take advantage of a provision referred to as the scholarship granting organizations or SGO provision of the one big beautiful bill. This program uses private donations to provide educational resources for students. Those that give scholarships of up to $1,700 per person starting in 2027 will receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit when they file their taxes. Givers in Wisconsin can give to Scholarship Granting organizations in any state but for a state to receive the funds their Governor must opt them in. What’s unique with this program is that scholarships can be given towards students in public schools, charter schools, and private schools. This opportunity is really pro-kid for many schooling environments. Since Governor Evers previously refused to take advantage of this program, legislators crafted this bill to require him to enroll our state. Although he could veto the bill if it passes, the pressure from the legislature may cause him to comply.

Whether through traditional public schooling, charter schooling, private schooling, homeschooling, or a mix-and-match approach, school choice empowers families to make the best educational choices for each of their children.

School choice provides several clear benefits for Wisconsin families. According to the Department of Public Instruction’s annual state testing results, choice students unanimously outperformed public schoolers last year. In every subject, choice students scored between 3 to 30 percent higher than public schoolers.[ii] While Wisconsin public schools lag concerningly behind on their test scores, choice schools enable students to thrive.

More importantly, school choice allows parents to choose educational options that align with their values. In recent years, the progressive bent of the public education system has become clearer than ever before. From encouraging middle schoolers to write erotic poetry to designing sex education courses for kindergarteners, public schools in Wisconsin proudly promote unbiblical and sexually inappropriate agendas.[iii] Parents should have the right to choose the educational path, whether home schooling, private schooling, or other options, for their children that aligns with their values.

Having options means that parents also bear the responsibility to make wise and biblically informed decisions for their children. Parents possess the God-given responsibility to ensure that their children receive biblical training. A Christian education isn’t a guarantee that a child will grow up to love the Lord, and nothing can replace the benefits of regular church attendance and biblical training in the home. Parents must take seriously the responsibility to shield their children from exposure to non-age-appropriate content and the consistent indoctrination of worldly messages while also instilling in them a biblical worldview and a love for God and His Word.

While we continue to fight for increased school choice in Wisconsin, we also have much to celebrate. Our trailblazing voucher system and many school choice options grant families the privilege and the responsibility to choose between a myriad of educational opportunities. This School Choice Week, we are thankful for the opportunities Wisconsin’s school choice programs are providing to thousands of students this school year.

For Wisconsin Family Council, this is Daniel Degner reminding you that God, through the Prophet Hosea, said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

[i] https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_d5906929-5ae6-46fc-bdee-8cb0e8850461.html

[ii] https://www.maciverinstitute.com/search-results?search=school+choice&id=114

[iii] https://www.maciverinstitute.com/news/wisconsin-public-schools-have-long-record-of-sexually-grooming-children