“because our current private schools are really quite at capacity.” achievement?
Chuck Moore, executive director of Impact Christian Schools, agreed the voucher cap lifting won’t significantly impact Madison private schools largely due to capacity limits. The nonprofit supports more than two dozen private Christian schools across Wisconsin, including several in Dane County.
“I think there’s a very big misunderstanding by people about the cap being lifted,” Moore said. “Even though there was a cap, it wasn’t impacting any of the (Madison) schools.”
Few public school districts have hit the cap in recent years. Last school year, private schools in three districts — Manitowoc, Watertown Unified and West Allis-West Milwaukee — had a total of 135 students on waiting lists due to the cap, according to the state’s education agency. Over 23,000 students statewide received vouchers the same year.
Moore said private schools in the Madison area are much more limited by capacity than a state-imposed cap. For example, Lighthouse Christian School, which serves about 300 students in grades K-8, recently expanded its facilities by 7,000 square feet to accommodate increasing demand, and school leaders hope to add high school grades down the line.
“Our biggest challenge is finding enough schools with enough spaces to fill with kids that are interested,” Moore said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
State aid for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program comes out of the money allocated to public schools. Last school year, Soldner said the Madison district lost about $6.6 million in state aid that was redirected to vouchers through the statewide program.
Under state law, school districts are allowed to increase local property tax levies to account for the loss of state funding for vouchers, shifting the tax burden to local residents. That path is how the Madison district has historically responded to vouchers rather than cut programming or use one-time funding to cover costs, Soldner said.
Madison’s School Board adopted a resolutionthis summer calling on state lawmakers, City Council members and county officials to increase transparency on property tax bills to show precisely how much money is going toward vouchers.
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“Did you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?” she asked.
Madison’s district, despite an elite university pipeline, hypereducated leadership, and a shiny, new strategic plan, suffers the same frailties as Milwaukee’s: basement performance, backbreaking spending. But while Milwaukee is pulling out of its tailspin due to courageouschoices from the top, Madison is ponderously ambling to nowhere. Just ask the locals. “You need the marketing, and you need the product,” as a parent told a reporter. “I’m missing the product.”
2025-2026 Madison 4k-3rd grade Early Literacy Screener report: The bar moves faster than the kids.
Joe Gothard, Becky Kundert and Sonia Spencer Remarks on Madison’s K-12 Literacy Crisis.
2026-2027 Madison K-12 $pending continues to grow, fueled by a 9.7% (!) property tax increase. Total spending will be at least $706,000,000 for 25,003 students, or $28,236 per student.
May 2026 Madison School District Presentation: 7,095 adults for 25,003 students (3.52 students per adult!)
2024-2025 Early Literacy Screener Map.
Map: Foundations of Reading Results: 2015–2024
Where have all the students gone?
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic.
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
China’s PhD Glut Drives Top Graduates to High School Teaching Jobs
