Viewpoint

With school choice deal, Wisconsin matches parents’ passion for their kids

By Patrick McIlheran

Seeing how often Wisconsinites have been told that public school districts are starving, it isn’t surprising that when asked to guess how much tax money districts spent per student, they whiffed.

And not by a little. The most common guess was about one-third to one-half of what the Department of Public Instruction says is the real figure.

In all, two in three of 700 people polled on behalf of the state’s chamber of commerce in early May guessed low. Less than 5% got it right. A fifth of respondents just shrugged.

This makes a difference when people think about the historic bump in funding for families using Wisconsin’s charter and school choice programs. The increase, which the Legislature passed Wednesday as part of a deal with Gov. Tony Evers, is large enough to reduce a yawning gap between what is available for different groups of students — though it does not close it.

Video

Are choice and charter schools held accountable?

Badger Institute education consultant Jim Bender, testifying Tuesday in favor of Assembly Bill 305, answers a question on choice and charter school accountability measures from Representative Kristina Shelton (D-Green Bay).

Video courtesy of WisconsinEye.

Analysis

Personal property taxes: More trouble than they’re worth

By Patrick McIlheran

Among the bills Republicans are considering in the Legislature is one eliminating the last remnants of Wisconsin’s personal property tax. The bill, AB2, sponsored by Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown), would end property taxes on everything but real estate.

The move is one the Badger Institute long has advocated.

In its “Mandate for Madison,” the institute worked with The Tax Foundation to offer five options for tax reform to make Wisconsin more competitive. The headline reforms were pathways to a single-rate “flat” income tax that would lower our punitively high top rate and free Wisconsin of economically harmful redistribution in the tax code.

But every option outlined by report author Katherine Loughead also got rid of the personal property tax.

Why Robin Vos Is Right About DEI

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos doesn’t want to fund the UW System’s DEI positions. He’s exactly right — and Shannon Whitworth’s recent piece explains why.

UW-Milwaukee Graduation Numbers for Black Students Plummet Even Further

“It is the lack of attention to academic standards at the high school and college levels keeping students of color from their caps and their gowns. And while this might not be a popular opinion in some quarters . . . the philosophy behind Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a big part of the problem.”

Testimony

Congress needs to help get able-bodied adults on FoodShare back to work

AEI Scholar and Badger Institute Visiting Fellow Angela Rachidi testified before the House Agriculture Committee this week in Washington, D.C.

Rachidi’s research shows that people capable of working and without children make up a growing percentage of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients and usually don’t consistently have a job.

Here is an excerpt from her testimony regarding low employment rates of ABAWDS (Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents) receiving SNAP benefits in Wisconsin. (This is the program known as FoodShare in Wisconsin and once known as Food Stamps.)

Based on my own research using longitudinal SNAP administrative data from Wisconsin, I found that quarterly employment rates among ABAWDs were low across time. I explored a cohort of ABAWDs receiving SNAP during a 6-month period in 2014 and 2015, and found that the quarterly employment rate was consistently below 40 percent and declined over the course of the next year (Figure 3).

Although 70 percent of this cohort had employment in at least one quarter in 2015, their employment was inconsistent and not sustained, raising concerns about their ability to escape poverty and achieve upward mobility over the long term. To the extent that SNAP contributed to these low average work rates, policymakers should enact reforms that strengthen recipients’ attachment to the labor force.

Badger Events

John McCormack, Washington correspondent for National Review and a fellow at National Review Institute, will participate in a June 30 lunch discussion with Badger Institute president Mike Nichols.

McCormack, who grew up in northwestern Wisconsin, has worked for the past 16 years as a journalist reporting on politics and policy in Washington, D.C. He will discuss the significance of this year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election and its broader implications. Audience Q&A about the Wisconsin election, policy debates in Washington, and McCormack’s experiences as a journalist will be encouraged!

Weekly Survey: Should able-bodied adults without dependents be subject to work requirements in order to receive FoodShare benefits?

Previous Poll Results:

What We’re Reading

• Angela Rachidi: Work Improves Mental Health

• American Mind: Federalism for Families

• Cato: The Phonics Resurgence

• WILL + SCW: Voucher Schools Have Little Effect on Public School Test Scores

Invest in the Badger Institute

The Institute never has, and never will, accept government funding. We gratefully welcome your online donation or email Angela Smith, Executive Vice President.

The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization funded solely by the generosity of foundations, companies and individuals.