Students stand up for quality school options

THE AGENDA: Legislative update
by Steve Baas - Senior VP of Government Affairs

When the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance came to Oak Creek for a public hearing on the proposed state budget this week, independent charter school and Choice school students showed up in force to let their voices be heard. The message they sent the budget-writing committee was clear: “Don’t place caps on our opportunity to get a great education in the school of our choice.” The committee heard hours of testimony on hundreds of items in the proposed $72 billion state budget. 

Some of the most compelling testimony came from students whose lives had been changed by high-performing school options. These students urged the legislature to reject initiatives in Governor Evers’ proposed budget which would cap the number of students in the Milwaukee Choice program and would cap the number of schools in the independent charter program. 

“Don’t place caps on our opportunity to get a great education in the school of our choice.”

MMAC supports the growth of high-performing schools, regardless of their sector or governance structure. We hope legislators were listening to this powerful testimony -- and look for ways to expand, rather than restrict, high-performing education options in our region.