A top Madison school district official joined a few other school districts Tuesday in talking about how Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed voucher school expansion would affect them.

Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Cross Plains, held a conference call that included officials from Madison, Superior, West Allis-West Milwaukee and Kenosha. They all face an expansion of voucher schools in their districts, which means taxpayers would give families vouchers to attend private schools. A majority of Senate Republicans disagree with Walker’s proposal as written, so there will likely be some changes to it.

Madison Metropolitan School District Chief of Staff Steve Harvey said voucher schools do not face the same standards and often do not provide better results.

“Our concerns are really around accountability to the public and also that vouchers do not necessarily raise achievement,” Harvey said. 

As voucher costs would be taken from public school budgets, Harvey said that was also a major concern. MMSD is still working on estimating how much the expansion would impact taxpayers and the district’s budget, he said.

Walker’s plan calls for an expansion of voucher schools in nine districts, adding to the existing programs in Racine and Milwaukee. Those school districts were targeted because they have more than 4,000 students and have at least two schools that scored a D or F in the school report cards that rolled out last year.

But the report cards were also a target of criticism from the school officials, as they noted the report cards are new and were not meant to be used right away. 

Brian Vissers, a WAWM School District spokesperson, said voucher schools would not be subject to the same report cards, which was originally intended. 

“If voucher schools had the same accountability standards as public education, then maybe we could understand a little better, but that’s not the case,” Kenosha Superintendent Michele Hancock said.

In an email to The Badger Herald, School Choice Wisconsin President Jim Bender said voucher schools will be included eventually, after they implement a statewide student information program.

The public largely does not understand the voucher school proposal, or that there needs to be a strong grassroots effort, Pope said.

In a Marquette University Law School statewide poll released Tuesday, 49 percent of those polled said they did not know enough or do not know what they think of voucher schools. While 27 percent support voucher schools, 24 percent do not. In Milwaukee, where voucher schools have been in place for about 20 years, 34 percent support voucher schools and 21 percent do not. 

The poll also asked about the voucher school expansion, not a general question on whether people support voucher schools. Thirty-seven percent support an expansion to the entire state, and 14 percent support an expansion to large school districts that have underperforming schools. Fourteen percent do not want an expansion, and 28 percent want to completely eliminate the voucher school program.

At a Joint Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said the expansion was necessary where public schools were not doing a good job.

“These families should have a choice for a better school, a better education and a brighter future,” Huebsch said. “That is why this budget expands voucher schools.”

Huebsch also noted that for the first time in the state’s history, public schools are getting some funding based on performance. He said while Walker’s proposed budget would not increase public school aid based on the current formula, it does offer some incentive grants based on the report cards.

Huebsch acknowledged voucher schools are not held to the same standards, but said they sometimes perform better and at a lower cost. He said legislators should be concerned about quality education wherever it comes from, not just from public schools.

“We do not necessarily need to defend a system,” Huebsch said. “We need to defend education.”