School choice: The sky's the limit

Having gotten more Milwaukee students into the school choice program, some Republicans are ready to think big.

Scott Walker wants school choice for everyone, with no income limits It sounds like he only means that to apply to Milwaukee, but his press release isn't clear.

State Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, took a break from trolling for babes on the Internet long enough to call for statewide school choice, without income limits. If that won't work, Vos says he'd settle for getting vouchers for everyone in the Racine area, he says.

That's a far cry from what the school choice idea was all about.

When State Rep. Polly Williams, Mayor John Norquist, and a handful of others began talking up school choice for Milwaukee, it was focused specifically on low-income families in Milwaukee.

Why? People with money have always had school choice, because they can send their kids to school anywhere they want. The idea was to give poor people the same choices rich people had, instead of being forced to send their kids to poor schools.

Milwaukee public schools were and are the worst in the state when you use a measure like the graduation rate, where almost as many students drop out as graduate from high school. Poor people had no choice but to send their kids there, while those with money were opting out.

Milwaukee schools were in crisis. The idea was, "Why not try everything? Maybe something will work."

That's what sold me and many others on the idea.

Choice was part of the mix, as an experiment. It's still an experiment, and the results still aren't clear, although taxpayers are spending almost $100-million a year on it.

Taking off the income or geographic limits on the program would take school choice in an entirely new, uncharted direction. And it would threaten public education in this state the way the Milwaukee choice program does not.

Public schools are a cornerstone of American democracy. The theory is that a public education, available to everyone, will result in an informed citizenry that can make good decisions in choosing its leaders and running the government. Idealistic? Of course. But it's worked pretty well so far, even if 20% of the American people still think there are WMDs in Iraq right now.

Another key part of the equation is local control of schools by elected school boards. Yes, there are state and federal regulations galore, but people at the local level still run our public schools. That has worked pretty well, too.

These are just the opening moves in an effort to expand school choice. It's one thing for outstate Republicans to vote against Milwaukee Public Schools. But it may be a very different question when it is their local school boards and public school system that is threatened.

Watch and see.