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This 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…
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…
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…
Read MoreThis is an opinion piece by Nicholas J. Kelly posted to Wisconsin Right Now on February 12, 2024. It’s a rare day when everyone is a winner from an education finance measure. New information from the non-partisan, authoritative Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) confirms that is the case for Assembly Bill 900. School boards, school district business managers, and parental choice advocates: Take note! Learn about this proposal and tell your legislators to support its change that treats Wisconsin taxpayers fairly. At issue is school choice decoupling, a topic I wrote about here last month. Briefly, the state currently uses two…
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 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…
Read MoreThe Christmas spirit was alive and well into the New Year this weekend as Hispanics for School Choice partnered with generous sponsors to put on a Three Kings Day Celebration in the Madison area. Three Kings Day, or Dia de Los Reyes, is a holiday often celebrated in Hispanic communities to mark the arrival of the magi to Bethlehem to bring gifts to baby Jesus. HFSC’s Three Kings Day event brought together more than 200 people for a toy giveaway that also included traditional rosca de reyes, or kings’ bread, hot chocolate, and an opportunity for children to have their picture…
Read MoreDecember 13, 2023 The Wisconsin Supreme Court today unanimously denied a petition seeking to halt Wisconsin’s parental choice programs. “This news will come as a great relief to thousands of Wisconsin families and the schools that serve them. Parents across the state value a program that works for them,” said Nicholas Kelly, president of School Choice Wisconsin. Kelly thanked the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty for seeking to intervene on behalf of School Choice Wisconsin Action and other parents and students in choice and charter schools and protecting parental choice. He noted that SCW had launched a significant ad…
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