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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWisconson - 75% of state voucher program applicants already attend private school
Seventy-five percent of eligible students who applied for taxpayer-funded subsidies to attend private and religious schools this fall in the statewide voucher program already attend private schools, according to data released Tuesday.
Nineteen percent of eligible applicants are currently enrolled in public schools.
More than 1,600 eligible applications for the 2014-15 school year were received from students attending private schools in addition to 482 students who received vouchers for the 2013-'14 school year and reapplied. About 530 students who attend public schools in Wisconsin applied and were eligible for the program. The program is entering its second year.
In total, 3,407 applications were received for the subsidies, of which 2,834 students were eligible. To be eligible for the vouchers a student's family must fall below 185% of the federal poverty level. For example, the maximum yearly income for a family of four could not exceed $44,177.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/75-of-state-voucher-program-applicants-already-attend-private-school-b99274333z1-259980701.html
apnu
(8,758 posts)These are the guys who bitch about giving people handouts to make them dependent. But when the Gov. writes checks for school tuition, everybody in the private school system (largely conservatives) lines up for money.
What hypocrites.
maggiesfarmer
(297 posts)my first thought was that even if I was the type to put high value on private schooling, I couldn't imagine investing in private education if my income was that low.
my second was that highly religious people may place a much higher value on a parochial education than I would.
third, regardless of the goods or services being discussed, if I was currently paying for those goods/services and a new gov't program came along offering support for which I was eligible, I'd be among the first to sign up --> I don't think the 75% number is surprising.
last, what we don't have data on is how many of those families are receiving other help to send their kids to private schools.
GeorgeGist
(25,323 posts)students formerly on need-based private scholarships are now being underwritten by the taxpayers.
The rich get richer.
Journeyman
(15,040 posts)Twice in those years voter initiatives were floated for vouchers we could use to send our children to a school of our choice.
I opposed both.
I could have used the money, to be sure, but it was my choice to not send my children to public school. It was not my choice to withdraw from my obligations to my society, or to request other citizens support a system in which they would have little to no voice.