Chippewa Valley Times

A win in the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election by candidate Janet Protasiewicz could jeopardize the scholarships of 1,875 Marathon County students studying in 11 private schools.

A Chippewa Valley Times analysis of Wisconsin Department of Instruction data found 1,875 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 Court, 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 Chippewa Valley Times. "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 $5.7 million in vouchers for 1,875 Marathon County students attending private schools.

Marathon County has the 11th 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
Columbus Catholic Schools	Catholic	Marshfield	Marathon	563	$1.7 million
Newman Catholic Schools	Catholic	Wausau	Marathon	460	$1.1 million
Faith Christian Academy	Christian	Wausau	Marathon	273	$1.3 million
Trinity Lutheran School	Lutheran	Wausau	Marathon	163	$453,546
Saint Peter Lutheran School	Lutheran	Schofield	Marathon	94	$285,566
Northland Lutheran High School	Lutheran	Kronenwetter	Marathon	82	$217,080
Saint Anthony de Padua Catholic School	Catholic	Athens	Marathon	60	$117,586
Trinity Lutheran School	Lutheran	Athens	Marathon	57	$113,387
Saint John School	Catholic	Edgar	Marathon	45	$142,783
Saint John Lutheran School	Lutheran	Wausau	Marathon	44	$163,781
Saint Joseph Catholic School	Catholic	Stratford	Marathon	34	$62,993