Taxpayers are now footing tuition bills for nearly one out of every two private school students in Wisconsin, a quiet but sweeping shift that has transformed the state’s education marketplace in a matter of years. What started as a modest Milwaukee experiment in 1990 has grown into a multi-program system that routes public dollars into hundreds of private classrooms statewide, raising pointed questions about funding, oversight and winners and losers as lawmakers gear up for budget and policy fights in Madison.
For the 2024-25 school year, an analysis by Wisconsin Watch found that 46% of students enrolled in Wisconsin private schools are using publicly funded vouchers across four programs: Milwaukee, Racine, the statewide choice program and the special needs scholarship. Reporter Hongyu Liu compiled the figure from Department of Public Instruction records and noted that the share reflects rapid growth since the program’s 1990 debut. The analysis also found that voucher participation has helped stabilize enrollment at many private schools while public school districts continue to lose students.
State counts show that participation in the four voucher programs has reached about 60,972 students, and the total cost for the 2025-26 school year is projected at roughly $700.7 million, according to the Wisconsin Examiner, which reviewed Department of Public Instruction data. The price tag has nearly doubled compared with 2019-20, a trend that has alarmed some school districts that argue the shift shrinks the pool of general aid available to traditional public schools. District leaders and property owners are watching to see how this reworked money flow lands in local budgets and classroom staffing.
What vouchers pay and who gets them
Vouchers now cover a hefty share of private school tuition. Awards range from about $10,000 to $13,000 per student, depending on grade level, while special needs scholarships can reach about $16,000, as reported by WUWM in its summary of the analysis. Families must meet income and residency rules to qualify, and each of the four programs has its own caps and eligibility rules. Supporters say those payments open doors to private options for families who would otherwise be priced out.
How the money moves
With the exception of Milwaukee, where payments come directly from the state budget, most voucher funding is pulled out of the general school aid that would otherwise go to local districts. That system meant about $357.5 million in district aid was deducted this year to cover choice programs, shrinking the total available to public school classrooms, according to the Wisconsin Examiner. Supporters and allied lobby groups argue that routing more voucher payments directly through the state budget would help relieve pressure on district finances.
Private schools, enrollment and the religious tilt
The surge of voucher dollars has helped keep many private schools afloat. More than half of Wisconsin private schools now participate in at least one voucher program, and a smaller cluster relies on vouchers for the vast majority of its students. Urban Milwaukee reports that about 91 schools have 90% or more of their students using vouchers this year, and roughly 96% of voucher recipients attend religiously affiliated schools. For some educators, that looks like a financial lifeline; for critics, it looks a lot like a public subsidy for faith-based education.
Academic outcomes remain unsettled
The big question, whether vouchers boost student achievement, does not have a tidy answer. A research review cited in the reporting, which summarized 92 studies conducted nationwide between 1992 and 2015, found only modest or inconsistent academic gains for voucher students, according to Wisconsin Watch. Researchers caution that selection effects, program design differences and limited data make it tough to draw a single sweeping conclusion for Wisconsin or anywhere else.
Where policy goes next
Advocates and legislators are already lining up proposals that would allow the system to grow further. Some groups highlight that the cap on the statewide program is scheduled to end in 2026-27, a shift that could open more seats for families currently on waiting lists, according to a statement from School Choice Wisconsin. At the same time, other lawmakers have introduced bills that would tighten oversight, require more income verification or limit the participation of virtual schools. That policy tug-of-war is poised to be a centerpiece of the upcoming legislative session…