DPI estimate of $577.3M in expanded school choice costs deeply flawed A Badger Institute Policy Brief: School Choice and Property Taxes Executive summary February 25, 2022 | By Jim Bender and Patrick McIlheran The estimate by the Department of Public Instruction of $577.3 million in potential added costs to property tax payers from opening Wisconsin’s school choice programs to families of all income levels is deeply flawed. It rests on an assumption that all children now attending private schools with tuition paid by their parents would switch to using state aid via the school choice program. This ignores the reality that choice schools, which can determine how many seats they offer through the program, usually can’t afford to have no tuition-paying students – because the choice grant is too far below the cost of education. Instead, the ratio of choice to tuition-paying students is likely to change more slowly. Since the bill does not include an extension of the fixed window to apply for a choice seat next year, families made eligible by the bill could switch their children only if the bill is signed and the DPI revamps its application process in the next six weeks. It is more likely that no additional children will attend next year. The estimate’s central claim, that such a shift would burden property tax payers, points to a possible reform. The program’s complicated financing shifts the burden in schools outside of Milwaukee to the property tax in districts that choice students live in. It would be simpler and, from a taxing standpoint, fairer to fund school choice statewide in a uniform way that mirrors how most of state government is funded – through general-purpose revenue raised primarily through the state taxes rather than local property taxes. Click Here to Read the Full Policy Brief Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email Our work in advancing free markets, opportunity and prosperity in the Badger State is only made possible by generous donations from our supporters. We never have, and never will, accept government funding. Donate online or email Angela Smith, Director of Development. The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Donate Now Listen to our New Podcast "Free Exchange" Free markets, limited government, and individual liberty – you know these principles, now hear the stories of the men and women who embody them and the policies that advance them. Listen as the team from Wisconsin’s Badger Institute come together to demystify, explore and discover ways to make communities in our state freer and more prosperous, one episode at a time. Subscribe to the Podcast Badger Institute | 700 W Virginia St, Suite 301, Milwaukee, WI 53204 www.badgerinstitute.org Unsubscribe
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