Public School Educators Applaud Evers’ Veto of “Big Beautiful Bill” Vouchers

Today, Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would have required Wisconsin to opt into a federal program to fund unaccountable private voucher schools and give tax breaks to wealthy donors who like them. The Educational Choice for Children Act was included in the Trump Administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill” last year.In the wake of the governor’s veto, WEAC President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen released the following statement:

“The state’s public school educators applaud Governor Evers for vetoing legislation that would have made unaccountable private voucher school programs infinitely more unaccountable. This federal voucher program has no end date, no spending limit, no requirements for student achievement or scholarship size, no accountability for the schools that receive the money, the organizations that administer it or the donors who back it. It’s a blank check with just one stipulation: It can’t benefit public schools.”

“More than 70 school districts in Wisconsin are going to referendum next week just to have enough money to continue operating because they have been abandoned by the state and federal government. Yet the Trump Administration and the Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature think this is a good time to pour tens of billions of dollars into a voucher program that has no standards and no accountability. A veto is the least of what this program deserves.”

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