Kenosha Reporter

A win in the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election by candidate Janet Protasiewicz could jeopardize the scholarships of 4,816 Racine County students studying in 15 private schools.

A Kenosha Reporter analysis of Wisconsin Department of Instruction data found 4,816 students receive scholarships for private schools. These vouchers could be on the chopping block if candidate Janet Protasiewicz wins the April 4 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

Protasiewicz is supported by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, whose President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen has gone on record saying “private school vouchers…are bleeding our public schools dry” and that removing them would be a priority in a liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Clint Bolick, an Arizona State Supreme Court Justice who has represented Wisconsin school choice advocates, commented to the MacIver Institute that there will be "renewed attacks in court" to declare the school choice program unconstitutional if Protasiewicz is elected.

"If Left-wing extremists succeed in taking over the Wisconsin Supreme County, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable students will be at risk of losing access to the school of their choice," Brian Burch, CEO of Catholic Vote, told Kenosha Reporter. "We cannot afford to turn back the clock to the days when only wealthy families had the option of sending their children to schools they choose."

Wisconsin taxpayers fund $33.6 million in vouchers for 4,816 Racine County students attending private schools.

Racine County has the second highest number of students receiving vouchers in Wisconsin.

Across the state, private school students received slightly more than $444 million in vouchers in 2022-23, compared to the $17.9 billion spent on the public K-12 school system in 2021-22.

School	Type	City	County	# Students	Funding
Siena Catholic Schools of Racine, Inc.	Catholic	Racine	Racine	1,508	$10.6 million
EverGreen Academy	Non-Religious	Mount Pleasant	Racine	422	$3.5 million
Renaissance Lutheran School	Lutheran	Racine	Racine	386	$3.2 million
Burlington Catholic School	Catholic	Burlington	Racine	386	$461,945
Hope Christian School Via	Christian	Racine	Racine	338	$2.8 million
Lutheran High School Association of Racine	Lutheran	Racine	Racine	303	$2.2 million
Trinity Lutheran School	Lutheran	Racine	Racine	220	$1.6 million
Concordia Lutheran School	Lutheran	Sturtevant	Racine	215	$1.6 million
Trinity Lutheran School	Lutheran	Caledonia	Racine	202	$982,683
Racine Christian School	Christian	Racine	Racine	190	$1.2 million
Wisconsin Lutheran School	Lutheran	Racine	Racine	167	$1.2 million
Sonnenberg Schools	Non-Religious	Racine	Racine	146	$2 million
Saint John's Lutheran School	Lutheran	Burlington	Racine	131	$503,940
Catholic Central High School	Catholic	Burlington	Racine	128	$325,620
Saint John's Lutheran School	Lutheran	Racine	Racine	74	$1.5 million