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Month: September 2022
Month: September 2022
The top choice news in the state at the moment: As in prior years, students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs have outperformed traditional public school students on the college-readiness ACT exam. See our press release here.
Read MoreFor Immediate Release September 29, 2022 Contact: Nicholas Kelly On September 29, 2022, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released the state test scores via the Wisconsin Student Assessment System. As in prior years, students in Wisconsin’s school choice programs outperformed traditional public school students on the college-readiness ACT exam. “This continuing pattern is quite noteworthy,” said Nic Kelly, School Choice Wisconsin president. He added: “The fact that choice students from low-income and working-class families score higher on average than public school students is consistent with other data and research. Despite taxpayer funding at 60% of public school levels, choice…
Read MoreChoiceWords wants schools and parents to be aware of the services School Choice Wisconsin provides. ChoiceWords sees SCW staff in action daily, helping schools plow through complicated paperwork and often making in-person visits. ChoiceWords sees how SCW functions as a lifeline for school administrators and others across the state. “We are here to serve our communities and schools,” says Nic Kelly, SCW president. “SCW has a dedicated history of supporting our schools and empowering parents to be able to make the choices they want for their child’s education. We are united in these efforts to provide quality educational experiences for…
Read MoreAs we get deeper into the school year, it’s uplifting to see varied activities, success and growth at schools participating in Wisconsin’s choice programs. The schools participating in choice vary in size, budget and mission. Occasionally, ChoiceWords peruses the websites and social media pages of participating schools to see what’s up on their campuses and in their communities. Below are a few updates we found. Catholic Memorial, Waukesha, had one of the biggest news items as the school announced an expansion with the acquisition of Infinity Fields Baseball Park, W234-S3555 Les Paul Pkwy. “The expansion, improvement of the…
Read MoreFor Immediate Release September 23, 2022 Contact: Nicholas J. Kelly Statement from School Choice Wisconsin and Bender Consulting LLC: School Choice Wisconsin (SCW) and Jim Bender, after more than a decade of success working together to advance educational options for parents, are moving forward on different paths but will remain allies in the fight for school choice. “SCW is grateful to Jim for his service. He has been an effective advocate for our mission of providing parental choice to all families,” said SCW Board Chair Bob DeKoch. “We continue to share a commitment to that goal.” As SCW President and…
Read More♦ Life Happens: A ChoiceWords series ♦ The state needs to add additional enrollment periods for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. The state should also end the program’s grade-level entry points, which can prevent families from accessing the program for years. This is the second installment in a periodic ChoiceWords series. More enrollment periods, please. That’s what one new school leader would like to see in the statewide school choice program. Currently the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program has one annual period when parents can enroll their kids, which goes from February through mid-April (see info from the Department of Public Instruction…
Read More“You’ve got half the community here,” someone shouted at Edward DeShazer as he welcomed students into Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy Thursday. “We want the whole community,” he responded. Positive energy was in abundance this week as the K4–8 school held a grand opening of its new home, at 9520 W. Allyn St. in Milwaukee, the former Fletcher Elementary. Uniformed students walked the red carpet Thursday leading into the school to the beat of “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” The choice school overcame a snag this week, as the Department of Public Instruction put the brakes on the opening due…
Read MoreFor Immediate Release September 8, 2022 Madison, Wis. – Wisconsin’s leading education, policy, and advocacy organizations announced on Thursday the formation of an unprecedented coalition to empower parents and expand educational opportunities for students. The newly formed Wisconsin Coalition for Education Freedom includes seven leading groups that have a unified voice on educational reform. Coalition partners include: Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Wisconsin, American Federation for Children (AFC) – Wisconsin Chapter, the Badger Institute, K12/Stride, School Choice Wisconsin/School Choice Wisconsin Action, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC). “Never before has there been a…
Read MoreNataly Andrade is the new outreach coordinator for Hispanics for School Choice/School Choice Wisconsin. It’s shaping up to be a school year of opportunities and challenges for Hispanics for School Choice. There are many opportunities to educate parents around the state about school choice. The challenge lies in being able to reach parents and educate them about their options on school choice, getting the info to them when they need it the most. Many parents in Wisconsin, Hispanic and otherwise, still lack information on how to access the state’s four choice programs and navigate the many barriers to enroll in…
Read More♦ Life Happens: A ChoiceWords series ♦ The state needs to add additional enrollment periods for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. The state should also end the program’s grade-level entry points, which can prevent families from accessing the program for years. This is the first in a periodic ChoiceWords series. Do you know in April what you’ll be doing in September? Do you have all the paperwork filed for those plans? Maybe. But we all know life happens and you don’t know what your situation may be six months from now. The reality that “life happens” bedevils parents in the…
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