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Ali Schwartz
Ali Schwartz
For Immediate Release February 21, 2022 Wisconsin voters are sharply at odds with a Democratic party official and legislator who said parents who want “to have a say in their child’s education” should home school or pay private school tuition. On February 10, the Vice Chair of the state Democratic Party, Representative Lee Snodgrass, tweeted: “If parents want to ‘have a say’ in their child’s education they should home school or pay for private school out of their family budget.” She posted this while an Assembly committee held a hearing on legislation to create a Parent Bill of Rights.…
Read MoreAugustin Khey has been a busy student at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School for the past four years. On a given day, you may have found him building something for his robotics or computer science clubs. Or maybe you grabbed a copy of the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School newspaper and read an article by Augustin about the military conflict in Myanmar and how it matters to a Jesuit faith community like Cristo Rey’s. You may have seen Augustin around Milwaukee, working in information tech or development-IT operations for corporations like Rockwell Automation, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren Law Firm, Brady…
Read MoreFebruary 8, 2022 Contact: Nicholas Kelly, 414.319.9160 BROOKFIELD, WI – Three new board members with extensive backgrounds in school choice advocacy, community outreach, and business have joined the School Choice Wisconsin (SCW) board, said Nicholas Kelly, SCW president. The three are: Jason Fields, President and CEO of Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadRep); Jim Kitzinger, founding partner of KLCM Advisors, an investment management firm in Wisconsin, and an investor in Milwaukee Forge; and Tammy Olivas, Outreach Director for Hispanics for School Choice (HFSC) since October 2011. “We look forward to the positive impact that these very competent and passionate individuals will…
Read MoreWhen you’re dedicated to service, sometimes you must take risks to serve your community best. Ahead of the start of their 2020-21 school year, The Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) System had to decide whether they would take just such a risk. At the time, the Green Bay Area Public School District had decided to remain closed to in-person education for the beginning of the school year. So had public schools in Milwaukee and Madison, and in big cities nationwide. The coronavirus was too significant a risk to hold classes in-person, they reasoned. GRACE could have done the same,…
Read MoreContact: Nicholas Kelly, 414.319.9160 January 31, 2022 BROOKFIELD, WI – Last Friday night, School Choice Wisconsin was proud to host one of the nation’s most significant National School Choice Week events at Lambeau Field. Keynote speaker Governor Tommy Thompson, founding member of the school choice movement, electrified the crowd with a speech about the history of school choice and what the future of the movement holds. He pushed for a path ahead where all families have access to all of our educational options. Wisconsin Right Now has written an account of Governor Thompson’s full speech, which you can read…
Read MoreJanuary 26, 2022 By Edgar Zaragoza Wisconsin’s private school choice program has benefited my family and—through my work at the Green Bay Area Catholic Education School System (GRACE)—I’ve personally seen it change the lives of hundreds of families for the better. Why not bring the blessing of choice to more families? About a decade ago, I worked at a public school, but hoped for a different quality of education and faith-based environment for my oldest daughter. By asking many questions about our options, I learned about Wisconsin’s School Voucher Program and applied for it through GRACE. When we received a voucher, I thought the…
Read More“It was challenging for quite a while.” As in every other school, Green Bay’s St. Thomas More Catholic School met a new set of challenges when the coronavirus spread to their area. “The staff really came together and did everything they could” to serve the kids, says Principal Jamie Froh Tyrrell, who joined the team in July of 2020. “They really tried.” But STM’s efforts were being roadblocked by a critical missing piece: the school didn’t know where many of their students and families were. STM currently educates 172 3k-8th grade students, 90% of whom are enrolled through the Wisconsin…
Read MoreJanuary 24, 2022 By Susan Mitchell In 1990, the Milwaukee School Choice Program served only 341 students at seven schools. Last year nearly 29,000 students — 1 in 4 Milwaukee school children —used it to attend 129 private schools. More than three decades have passed since former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson signed into law the nation’s first modern parent choice program. The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program inspired a national movement. Thirty-two other states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now have their own parent choice programs, serving more than 600,000 students. The pandemic has fueled recent growth and awakened…
Read MoreContact: Nicholas Kelly, 414.319.9160 BROOKFIELD, WI – This Friday, School Choice Wisconsin (SCW) will be hosting an event at Lambeau Field to celebrate National School Choice Week. We will host over 29 schools and school systems from around the state. SCW will have over 300 guests, including parents, state legislators, businesses, and other community leaders who support our mission. In addition, SCW will have an all-star lineup of guest speakers. Our keynote speaker is former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. Leading up to this event, SCW founder and former SCW board chair Susan Mitchell has published an article here that provides…
Read MoreWhen Wisconsin’s schools were first ordered to shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, New Testament Christian Academy Director Renee Johnson says “We prayed.” Little did they know how incredibly their prayers would be answered. New Testament Christian Academy is a private K4-8 school of 157 students with a campus on Bradley Road in Milwaukee. 91.7% of their students attend the Academy through the Parental Choice Program, and 50.3% of their students are considered “economically disadvantaged” by the state. The Academy delivers rigorous, traditional instruction with focuses on critical thinking and STEM fields to prepare students for their future…
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