School Choice Wisconsin President Jim Bender To Step Down End of 2020

Contacts: Susan Mitchell, 414.232.4324
Jim Bender, 920.222.5427

Brookfield, WI –  School Choice Wisconsin (SCW) President Jim Bender will step down at the end of the year to form his own business, Bender Consulting, LLC.  SCW will begin immediately to recruit a new president, SCW board chair Susan Mitchell said.

“Jim has led SCW through a decade of major growth in programs, participating schools, and students,” Mitchell said.  “Thanks to his leadership, the number of programs has quadrupled, participating schools have tripled, and the number of students served has doubled,” she said.

The pandemic has shown parents the value of the freedom to choose the education best for their children, Mitchell said.  She said that the SCW board has approved development of a plan to work with Bender’s new firm to pursue a new phase of growth and innovation in educational options for Wisconsin families.

“The opportunity to expand, implement, and defend Wisconsin’s school choice programs leaves me with a deep sense of pride and purpose.  I look forward to continued work with SCW in a very exciting time in education,” Bender said.

Mitchell is the founder and former president of SCW.  She has worked nationally and in Wisconsin to expand parental freedom in education.  “Wisconsin pioneered a school choice movement that has gone national.  Here and elsewhere research documents positive gains in academic achievement and future life prospects,” she said.

The search for a new president will be conducted by Talent Market under the leadership of Claire Kittle Dixon.  Interested persons should contact her at [email protected].