The Sconi

A limited government advocate calls last week's bipartisan deal that includes charter and private voucher schools and allows local governments to raise sales taxes without a referendum a "huge win for the parents of Wisconsin."

Patrick McIlheran, director of policy at Badger Institute, took to social media to express his support for the deal that also includes increased funding for local governments.

"Huge win for the parents of Wisconsin, as lawmakers and governor agree to move #SchoolChoice funding -- now about 60% of what district schools get -- closer to sustainability," McIlheran said in his June 8 Twitter post. "It puts the program serving about 65,000 Wisconsin kids on a more sustainable footing."

Badger Institute, formerly called the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, is a nonprofit policy research group based in Milwaukee that advocates for free markets and limited government.

McIlheran's Twitter post followed the agreement reached between between Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers that is expected to expand the state's school choice program. Evers announced the agreement in a news release that said he, Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and House Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) had "reached a tentative compromise regarding shared revenue."

The agreement, which includes more than $1 billion for K-12 education and $30 million in school-based mental health services, has been widely covered by news outlets, including the National Review.

It also includes an increase of $1,000 for grade school vouchers and $3,000 for high school vouchers for students who attend private schools. The agreement also supplies funding for reading and mental health programs, as well as special education in schools.

To fund the agreement, the sales tax in Milwaukee increased without a referendum, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The agreement allows Milwaukee County to raise its sales tax to 0.875% through a two-thirds vote of the county board. 

The agreement's additional funding would fend off a fiscal crisis in Milwaukee.

"Wisconsin is likely now the state with voucher funding levels closest to parity with our public schools," said Will Flanders, research director for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, in a Twitter post June 8. "There is still room for improvement in areas like eligibility, but a big win for Wisconsin families who need options."

Not everyone is happy with the deal. 

"Wisconsin deserves so much better," said Wisconsin state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), who represents the state's Seventh Senate District, which also includes Oak Creek, Cudahy, St. Francis and South Milwaukee, on his own Twitter post. "Every child should be getting a quality public education."

Larson also urged Wisconsin residents to contact elected officials "and tell them to stop Wisconsin's slide into ignorance, stop defunding public education and finally invest in our kids' future."