What to know about a Minocqua brewery PAC's lawsuit against Wisconsin's school vouchers

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EDUCATION
What to know about a Minocqua brewery PAC’s lawsuit against Wisconsin's school vouchers

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/education/2023/10/16/minocqua-brewing-co-pac-sues-wisconsin-school-choice-vouchers/71168932007/



Rory Linnane Jessie Opoien


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


A Wisconsin Democrat is asking the state Supreme Court's new liberal majority to eliminate funding for the state's four taxpayer-funded school voucher programs and independent charter schools while also lifting state-imposed limits on the amount of funding public schools can receive without a referendum.

If successful, the lawsuit would upend the state's K-12 education landscape by effectively eliminating the school voucher programs, one of which is more than 30 years old and used by nearly 30,000 children in Milwaukee.

Private school voucher programs provide participating schools with a taxpayer-funded voucher to pay for the tuition for each student who is eligible to enroll in the program. The students are typically from lower- and middle-income families.

The state's first voucher program began in Milwaukee in 1990, but the number of vouchers exploded over the last 10 years after Republicans made it a priority to expand the program to the rest of the state.

Last school year, about 29,000 students participated in the Milwaukee voucher program, 17,000 in the statewide program, 4,000 in the Racine program, and 2,000 in the state's voucher program for students with disabilities — costing a total of about $444 million.

The lawsuit was brought by former Democratic candidate for the U.S. House and state Assembly Kirk Bangstad, who owns the Minocqua Brewing Co. and has created a political action committee using his brewery's namesake to raise money for Democratic causes. The brewery produces beer with politically themed names.

More:Here's what charter schools are and how they work in Wisconsin




The Wisconsin Supreme Court inside the state Capitol building in Madison on Aug. 2, 2023.