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This 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 MoreData Shows School Choice Leads to Improved Outcomes October 8, 2024 (Madison, Wis.) – Newly released Department of Public Instruction (DPI) test score data shows school choice students maintain an advantage over public schools that has continued for at least the last three years. “Wisconsin choice students perform better despite being financed at 70% of the average public school cost,” said Nicholas Kelly, President of School Choice Wisconsin. “This performance advantage was true under prior DPI reporting standards and remains so under its new regimen.” “The results explain why polling shows 77% of Wisconsinites agree that parents, not the state,…
Read MoreHere we go again. Ingrid Walker-Henry’s Sept. 28 attack on parent choice presents the tired litany of falsehoods regularly advanced by those who want to limit educational opportunities for Milwaukee families. Ms. Walker-Henry is the president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association. She clearly seeks to divert attention from the tidal wave of news this year by describing the many reasons parents seek options other than Milwaukee Public Schools. Readers deserve to know that the attacks published against the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program are, at best, flawed and, at worst, dishonest. While the author questioned the results from private, charter,…
Read MoreAll K-12 students are invited to participate in our annual art contest in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. This year’s theme is Shaping the Future Together. There will be one grand prize winner per category: K–2 = $50 Grades 3–5 = $100 Grades 6–8 = $150 Grades 9–12 = $200 The submission deadline is October 15 25, 2024. Winners will be announced on October 31, 2024, on our Facebook pages (SCW and HFSC) as well as contacted directly. All decisions are final. Contest Rules: Open to ALL K-12 students One single entry per student Handmade drawing or painting only (no…
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 MoreAugust 9, 2024 Nicholas Kelly, president of School Choice Wisconsin, issued the following statement in response to the new WPF report on education: “Any plan to address K-12 education issues in Milwaukee must include more parent choice.” “DPI data show that students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program have outperformed MPS students despite often entering the choice program at lower levels of achievement.” “Those results, which we know could be even stronger, occurred with per-pupil funding at about 60% of public school funding.”* “Milwaukee choice students scored higher, on average, on all state academic tests and on the college-readiness ACT.”…
Read MoreWest Allis, WI – School Choice Wisconsin is pleased to announce that Peter Farrow has joined its board of directors, SCW president Nicholas Kelly said today. “Peter is an established corporate leader who served as CEO and general manager of Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire for 22 years. His experience in government relations, policy development, and policy implementation will help guide our efforts to increase educational freedom for all families in Wisconsin,” Kelly said. Peter lives in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where he remains an active technology investor and advisor. He is currently the Executive Chairman of MedWand Solutions, Inc.,…
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 MoreSchool Choice Wisconsin is pleased to announce that Nathan Schwanz has joined its board of directors, Nicholas Kelly, SCW president said today. “Nathan is committed to educational freedom for parents, and he brings to the board strong strategic capability, policy experience, and problem-solving skills,” Kelly said. “He is a highly regarded leader who will help deepen our capability to serve families.” Schwanz is currently the Director of Government Relations for the Medical College of Wisconsin. He formerly was Deputy Chief of Staff to Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and has a decade of experience in the legislative and executive branches…
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