Democrat Mary Burke
If she’s elected governor, Democrat Mary Burke says she would look to roll back changes made in the last state budget that benefit private schools in Wisconsin.
Burke, the likely Democratic nominee in the race to take on incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker next November, says repealing the expansion of vouchers statewide and reversing a tax credit for private school tuition payments could save the state money. She says it would be among the areas she considers for cuts in the next state budget. During a Wispolitics.com event in Madison Tuesday, Burke described both as “new entitlement programs” and questioned whether the state is getting value out of them for the money they cost.
Burke notes that 80 percent of the vouchers issued last year went to families who were already sending their kids to a private school. Burke added that, while she respects people’s choice in sending kids to private schools, she does not believe the state should be subsidizing that decision.
The voucher program expansion and tax credit were included in the state budget adopted by majority Republicans last June. The provisions drew heavy criticism from Democrats, who argued they divert resources away from the state’s public schools.