Just four years after former Governor Jim Doyle started the Wisconsin Covenant program, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has voted to do away with it.
The program promises students access to financial aid and a UW or tech college education, if they get good grades and graduate high school. State Representative Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) says it encourages kids to succeed and support should continue.
Republicans on Tuesday voted to cut off enrollment in the program after this year, and phase it out after the current generation of students who signed the covenant finish college. Grigsby questioned their priorities by continuing to defund education, while pushing through tax breaks for businesses.
Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) says kids in the program have been doing what was asked of them, and ending it sends the wrong message.
The Finance Committee also voted to reduce funding for the program over the next two years, based on lower projections for student participation.