This post originally appeared at https://wifamilycouncil.org/radio/let-the-caps-go/
2025 | Week of June 2 | Radio Transcript #1621
For more than three decades, Wisconsin has been a pioneer in the national movement for parental choice in education. What began with the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in 1990 has expanded significantly, now including a Parental Choice Program for Racine and a statewide initiative—the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program—that gives qualified families a meaningful opportunity to choose the education that best aligns with their values, priorities, and their children’s unique needs by offering them a financial voucher.
Because parents are the primary educators of their children, we support policies that empower families with options, uphold religious liberty, and encourage educational excellence. It is from this conviction that we oppose any effort to extend the timeline for removing the enrollment cap on the statewide Parental Choice Program. And that’s exactly what a number of Democrat State legislators want to do with a bill they are planning to introduce.[1]
The cap was always intended to be temporary, a transitional measure meant to ease the program’s expansion. Initially, in 2015, students comprising one percent of a public-school district’s enrollment could receive a voucher. The law allowed for a one-percent per-year increase up to 10% in the 2025-2026 school, after which the cap would be eliminated.
At the heart of the parental choice movement is the principle that parents—not the government—know what is best for their children. Whether it’s academic rigor, moral instruction, safety, or alignment with faith-based values, parents deserve the freedom to direct their children’s education.
Extending the cap delays that freedom. It means that even if a child is eligible for a voucher, he or she might be denied access because of an arbitrary percentage tied to the enrollment size of a public school district. That’s not choice. That’s bureaucracy. Our state should be removing barriers to family empowerment—not reinforcing them.
Ironically, those who claim to advocate for educational equity are often the ones who want to preserve the cap. But the cap disproportionately affects low- and middle-income families—those who in all likelihood cannot afford private tuition on their own.
Families that are not considered low-income may have more means to choose a private school. The voucher program was designed to extend that same liberty to families of modest means. But the cap forces many of these families to stay in schools that may not meet their children’s needs—academically, emotionally, or spiritually. That’s not equitable. That’s unjust.
Some opponents of lifting the cap argue that more time is needed to assess the program’s performance or to ensure accountability. But the facts say otherwise.
Private schools participating in the Parental Choice Programs are already subject to state-mandated standardized testing, financial audits, and academic oversight. In many cases, they go beyond those requirements to maintain accreditation, serve diverse learners, and communicate transparently with families.
More importantly, private schools are directly accountable to parents. If a school is failing to serve its students, families can—and do—leave. This is real accountability, unlike in the public system where families are too often trapped based on address.
Furthermore, many schools in the program—especially religious institutions—deliver more than academic content. They offer an education grounded in faith, character formation, and community. For families who want that for their children, no public alternative will suffice.
Opponents of removing the cap often cite potential financial impacts on public schools. But the funding should belong to the student, not the system. Education dollars should follow the child to the school that serves him or her best.
Moreover, school choice has been shown to prompt positive change in public schools. Removing the cap does not destroy public education—it should make it stronger through accountability and responsiveness.
Finally, extending the cap undermines the trust of families, schools, and communities who planned for its scheduled removal in 2026–2027. It signals that political expediency trumps principle and that the voices of parents are secondary to the interests of institutions. That is not leadership. That is retreat.
Wisconsin’s Parental Choice Programs have changed lives. They’ve given thousands of families hope, opportunity, and the dignity of choice. Children thrive when families are trusted, faith is respected, and freedom is protected. Extending the cap on the statewide program would only serve to delay that progress and reinforce a status quo that puts systems over students.
For Wisconsin Family Council, this is Julaine Appling, reminding you that God, through the Prophet Hosea, said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
[1]https://www.wispolitics.com/2025/rep-phelps-introduces-bill-to-maintain-caps-on-private-education-spending/
Haylee Lawver