School Choice rally draws hundreds to Capitol

This past week was National School Choice Week, with hundreds of parents, students, and educators rallying in Madison to celebrate the movement’s achievements and lay out goals for the coming year.

The January 27 event was organized by School Choice Wisconsin.

According to Department of Public Instruction (DPI) data, more than 60,000 students are enrolled statewide in Wisconsin’s private school choice programs, a record-breaking total that has grown to nearly twice its size over the past decade.

DPI records show that 417 private schools and school systems are registered to participate in the state’s private school choice programs for the 2026–27 school year.

“The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, which allows students residing outside of the city of Milwaukee and Racine Unified School District to participate, has 377 private schools and school systems registered for the 2026-27 school year,” DPI announced this past week. “The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which requires students to reside in the city of Milwaukee, has 141 private schools registered for the 2026-27 school year. The Racine Parental Choice Program, which requires students to reside in the Racine Unified School District, has 40 private schools registered for the 2026-27 school year. Schools may participate in multiple parental choice programs.”

Under Wisconsin law, the programs allow eligible students in kindergarten through 12th grade to attend participating private schools, with the school receiving a state aid payment on behalf of the student’s parent or guardian. Acceptance is not first-come, first-served. If demand exceeds available seats, students are selected at random.

Quinton Klabon, senior research director at the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG), said new schools joining the program include focuses on microschooling, skilled trades, and Waldorf, a nontraditional, developmentally focused education approach.  IRG also reported that 18 schools will join Wisconsin’s choice programs for the first time in 2026–27, while only two schools are leaving. 

Participation limits in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program are also set to expire, a change supporters say will help shorten waiting lists in communities such as Watertown, Manitowoc, and West Allis–West Milwaukee.

Three schools will open for the first time: Saint Augustine Christian North (Fox Point-Bayside), Firm Foundation Christian (Ladysmith), and Victory Christian (Tomah).

In addition, Saint Sava Orthodox (Milwaukee) will join, leaving only one traditional private school in Milwaukee that has not joined the program. Saint Sava is Wisconsin’s only Orthodox Christian school.

“Kids from Marshfield to Milwaukee are getting some great news: they will have more quality options for school next year,” Klabon said. “Wisconsin remains the place any family should move for affordable, rigorous schools that match their values.”

Capitol rally emphasizes ‘educational freedom’

At the Capitol rally, speakers emphasized parental choice, educational pluralism, and Wisconsin's role in shaping national school choice policy.

Americans for Prosperity–Wisconsin (AFP) joined School Choice Wisconsin at the event, with AFP-WI state director Megan Novak calling for the defense of Wisconsin’s decades-old school choice program.

“Wisconsin has always been the nation’s leader in school choice,” Novak said. “Dozens of other states looked to our model for guidance when creating their own programs, and now that model is under threat. Just this month we’ve had two statewide candidates promise to take away vouchers if elected, and numerous bills have been filed in the legislature with similar agendas. Educational freedom is a core component of raising the next generation of state leaders. The integrity of that freedom must be maintained.”

In an op-ed published during National School Choice Week, Novak pointed to Wisconsin’s long history with education choice and its influence on other states.

“The nation’s first school choice program was first established nearly 40 years ago in Milwaukee,” Novak wrote. “Since the success of this first-of-its-kind opportunity, Wisconsin expanded school choice to include students statewide, increased the number of public charter schools, developed protections for home schoolers, and created a robust public school open enrollment program.”

Tens of thousands of students and families have found a better future through education freedom in Wisconsin, Novak wrote. 

“But it is not just Wisconsinites who have benefited,” she wrote. “After the success of our choice programs, 30 states now have school choice programs thanks to the Badger State’s leadership. Without Wisconsin paving the way, it is safe to say that far too many students across the country would have been trapped in schools that failed to meet their educational needs.”

However, Novak wrote, Wisconsin has fallen from being the nation’s school choice leader and is under increasing attack.

“A 2023 lawsuit was filed to terminate the school choice program,” she wrote. “While ultimately unsuccessful, it serves as a harbinger of what may be coming next. Every legislative session, Democrats file bills to end choice schools. This session is no different, with bills that would cap the number of students participating in the private school choice programs and add unnecessary, burdensome regulations.”

Novak wrote that rolling back choice programs would immediately impact families already enrolled.

“What these politicians and activists on the left fail to mention is that their so-called ‘pro-student’ policies would effectively force over 60,000 Wisconsin students out of their current schools,” she wrote, referring to private school choice participants alone.

National attention

While much of the focus during National School Choice Week centered on Wisconsin, supporters also pointed to developments at the federal level.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) reintroduced legislation last week to permanently authorize funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, along with funding for D.C. public charter schools and public schools.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program provides scholarships for low-income students in the District of Columbia to attend private schools. Johnson said the program’s outcomes illustrate the broader case for school choice.

“The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has helped thousands of students from low-income households attain a graduation rate significantly higher than comparable students,” Johnson said. “The fact that twice as many children apply for the program than can be accommodated shows how important choice in education is for families.”

Johnson said permanently authorizing the program would ensure continued access to educational options for families looking for alternatives to traditional public schools.

School choice opponents have raised concerns about public funding flowing to private schools, as well as about accountability and standards. Those debates are expected to continue during the 2026 campaign season, as lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates consider proposals affecting voucher caps, program eligibility, and regulatory requirements

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.