My husband and I chose to send our children to Catholic schools. We were able to afford the tuition to make that choice, while at the same time paying taxes to support public school education.
We were fortunate to be able to choose the schools we wanted for our children, but not everyone has the financial resources to make that choice. Although Catholic schools provide much financial aid, there are still families that can’t afford to send their children to a Catholic school.
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
Twenty-three years ago, Wisconsin did something about that problem by starting the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. This program provides state-paid tuition vouchers to enable low-income students to enroll in private schools in the City of Milwaukee. The program, which has survived legal challenges in the Wisconsin and U.S. Supreme Courts, began operation in 1990 with about 340 students.
At first the Milwaukee program only provided vouchers for students attending private nonsectarian schools. However, in 1995 it was expanded to allow vouchers for children attending religious schools. It was stipulated that a school must excuse a student from participation in any religious instruction or activity at the request of the child’s parent or guardian (very few people have taken this option).
