Closing the gap: Choice and charter schools see big funding win in state budget

By Ryan Amundson - MMAC Sr. Director of Communications

Milwaukee Academy of Science (MAS)

The Milwaukee Academy of Science (MAS) got its start in 2000 with the intent of closing a significant gap in minority achievement in the health sciences.
 
It’s delivered.
 
2023 marked the ninth straight year the school achieved a perfect post-secondary school acceptance rate – boasting nearly $10 million in scholarships won by its students this year.
 
The state legislature helped the school, and others like it, close another significant gap last week – one that school CEO Anthony McHenry said will allow it to think “long-term.”

This year’s state budget narrowed the per-pupil spending gap between charter and choice schools and their public-school counterparts. The measures were enacted as part of a larger $1 billion spend on education signed by Gov. Tony Evers last week. 
 

As part of the measure, charter schools will see their per-pupil vouchers increase from $9,264 to $11,000. Choice schools will see vouchers increase from $8,399 to $9,500 for K-8 students; and $9,045 to $12,000 for high schoolers. The narrowing of this spending gap is something MMAC provided advocacy on for many years.

“Investing in our students provides a better future for all children and their families ,” said Tim Sheehy, MMAC President.  “Equitable funding leads to better outcomes educationally and, in the long term, economically. We thank state leadership for working together on this issue.”

Calling the process an “emotional rollercoaster,” McHenry lauded state leadership for its work on this spending measure.
 
“We were faced with laying off staff, reducing programs. This keeps us from a financial cliff,” McHenry said. “We desperately needed news like this.”

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, a choice school opened in 2015 on the city’s near south side, has built a culture of success on a scale much like that of MAS. The school has seen 100 percent of its graduates accepted to four-year colleges or universities since its inaugural class of 2019. Leadership at the school said the state spending measure provides a bright future for all of Milwaukee.

“The budget measures put in place represent a big win for young people and families in Milwaukee,” said school president Andrew Stith. “These additional resources empower parents further to choose a school where their values will be reinforced and where their children will grow and be successful.”

100% of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School seniors were accepted to college in 2022.

Additional funds provide some flexibility for choice and charter schools in the region. Stith said the funding increase will allow his school to get a good jumpstart on its recently developed strategic plans calling for capital improvements, new programming and more to further its distinction as a destination high school in Milwaukee.
 
“We only have students for four years, so we are grateful to be able to start driving additional resources where they make the most impact in the immediate term,” he said.

With 2,000 applicants for admission, McHenry said MAS – which currently has 1,400 students – is looking for additional space to accommodate the interest. Additional funding could help with those plans. He also mentioned looking at more competitive compensation to attract and retain talent at the school.
 
Both McHenry and Stith see spending measures like this as beneficial in a much larger sense.
 
“If Milwaukee is truly going to be a Region of Choice for talent and businesses in the future, investments like this matter right now,” said Stith. “… The ripple effect of this funding in the wider community means that our school will be a meaningful part of the solution to generating the workforce that will sustain our businesses and quality of life in the future …”
 
McHenry added that bipartisan legislation provides hope to people who feel their voices have not been heard.
 
“It was safe to say that we unfortunately had gotten to a point in which we didn’t think government was working for the people,” he said. “We got a win. More people’s voices were heard.”  

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Interested in learning more? Check out MMAC's K-12 Education Agenda for Improving student outcomes by investing in quality schools.