Wisconsin School Choice Programs Serve Thousands of Disabled Students

The News:

An estimated 14% of students in Wisconsin school choice programs have a special needs disability, according to a new analysis conducted by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) and School Choice Wisconsin (SCW).

The Quotes:

Will Flanders, Research Director at WILL, stated: “The data are clear. Wisconsin’s school choice programs serve thousands of students with disabilities—far more than choice opponents acknowledge. The Department of Public Instruction’s method of counting grossly undercounts these students. This fuels a false narrative about private schools’ commitment to serving children with disabilities.”

Mike Metoff, Director of Research at SCW, added, “This research shows why official state estimates greatly understate the actual number of choice students with disabilities. Our data are consistent with prior scholarly work and dispel misinformation circulated in some media outlets and by opponents of school choice programs.”

Additional Context:

Despite claims by opponents and media outlets that Wisconsin’s choice schools under-serve students with disabilities, this report reveals the opposite. DPI’s flawed identification method significantly undercounts these students, misrepresenting the reality that choice programs serve thousands of students with disabilities. This study provides data to correct the record and dispel these persistent myths.

Report Highlights:

• Current DPI identification requirements guarantee undercounting of students with disabilities who are enrolled in one of the state’s choice programs. Even some students in the Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) are not counted as having a disability.
• More than 14% of students in choice schools likely have a disability. This is seven times greater than DPI reports.
• Private schools in the choice programs may not deny admission based on disability status. In contrast, disability discrimination is widespread in Wisconsin’s public school open enrollment program.
• School choice opponents wrongly claim that private schools in the Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) receive reimbursement for 90% of costs. In fact, of the 3,068 students using a SNSP scholarship in 2024-25, only 11 (0.36%) are eligible for 90% reimbursement. The majority of the 8,653 choice students estimated to have a disability are funded at about 70% of public funding for the general student population.

Read More:
Thousands Served: Students with Disabilities in Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Programs