Report: Wisconsin choice school students outperformed public school peers

By Jon Styf
The Center Square

Low- and middle-income Wisconsin students fared better after multiple years in private school choice programs than comparable public-school students, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty found students fared better on the English/language arts portion of the Wisconsin Forward Exam in the schools with voucher funding that cost $5,000 less per K-8 student and $2,500 less per high school student in public funds.

"This groundbreaking research provides some of the clearest evidence yet; school choice is a win for students,” WILL Research Director Will Flanders said in a statement. “Our peer-reviewed analysis focuses on low-and-middle-income Wisconsin students who are the sole participants in Wisconsin’s unique choice programs. Our research should serve as a fire alarm for states evaluating new limitations or even repealing their choice programs. Make no mistake, those students will suffer due to their misjudgment.”

The study looked at the results for 100,000 students between 2018-19 and 2022-23 and found that students in the Wisconsin, Milwaukee and Racine programs advanced further with those in the Milwaukee and statewide school choice programs for four or more years gaining the equivalent of one additional year of education.

“Our research was subject to rigorous academic scrutiny during the peer review process,” Scott Niederjohn, the Director of the Free Enterprise Center at Concordia University-Wisconsin. “The result was clear: the longer students participate in the ‘Choice Program’ the better their academic results, on average.”