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Op-Eds
Op-Eds
This is an opinion piece by Nicholas J. Kelly posted to Wisconsin Right Now on November 20, 2024. Wisconsin pioneered what has become a national movement to expand parent education options. From an initial program serving 341 students at seven schools, this year more than 181,000 Wisconsin students use choices that did not exist before the 1990’s. Across the political spectrum, and in all media markets, Wisconsin voters approve and favor expansion. Opponents are undeterred, especially when it comes to programs that let parents choose private schools. More than 58,000 students are enrolled this year in those Wisconsin programs. For…
Read MoreThis is an opinion piece by Nicholas J. Kelly posted to Wisconsin Right Now on October 10, 2024. Milwaukee and Racine data – the fairer comparison – shows private choice students outperform public school students in 32 of 36 grade-level comparisons. This is an opinion piece. Half-truths are contemptible. As the Oxford Dictionary explains, half-truths “deliberately convey only part of the truth in order to deceive someone.” DPI issues half-truths on an annual basis, when it releases state test scores that compare students from low-income and moderate-income families with all students statewide. They do it even though they know it…
Read MoreThis is an opinion piece by Nicholas J. Kelly posted to Wisconsin Right Now on August 14, 2024. Primary elections are over. A 12-week sprint to the general election is underway. A major shift in public opinion on school choice and K-12 education will be a factor in legislative races statewide. Given the general consensus that new legislative maps will produce closely contested November outcomes, the views of likely voters on school choice will be decisive. Wes Anderson, the most experienced pollster on Wisconsin education issues in the last two decades, says a tipping point has been reached. When Anderson talks…
Read MoreThis is an opinion piece by Nicholas J. Kelly posted to Wisconsin Right Now on June 18, 2024. No response to the regrettable MPS debacle will be adequate if it does not include expanded educational choice for all families. Every child deserves an exit pass. Educational choice is the single policy with demonstrable results in the decades of MPS “reform” efforts. Scores of choice students have gone up while those of MPS students have declined. More than half of the city’s parents now use options enacted in the 1990s under Governor Tommy Thompson. The latest data available show that in the…
Read MoreThis is an opinion piece by Nicholas J. Kelly posted to Wisconsin Right Now on January 16, 2024. There are two key takeaways from Wisconsin’s pioneering school choice programs. First, students in the programs outperform their public school peers. Second, the taxpayer cost is sixty-nine percent of public school spending. As president of School Choice Wisconsin, these results spur my work every day. At School Choice Wisconsin we connect with schools and families to imagine a better future — whether that means expanding a school, finding the right option for a particular student, or simply spreading the word about the…
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