MADISON – Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce – through its affiliate, WMC Issues Mobilization Council – is fiercely defending the state’s choice and independent charter schools in a new ad campaign.
The new 30 second ad – which is running statewide on digital platforms – responds directly to a lawsuit that aims to eliminate educational options that 65,000 students rely on. Thousands of Wisconsin families would be devastated, and the entire education system disrupted, if the school choice and independent charter programs were to end.
“A lawsuit would rip thousands of low-income students from their schools, stopping them from breaking the cycle of poverty and achieving their dreams,” the narrator says in the ad.
Employers have made it abundantly clear that they need students graduating from high school with the hard and soft skills to succeed in a career. Unfortunately, nearly three-quarters of Wisconsin businesses say the public K-12 system is not preparing students for the workforce – not surprising given that roughly six in 10 students cannot read or do math at grade level.
At the same time, students in both choice and independent charter schools routinely have better academic outcomes than their public school counterparts.
That is why the business community and a large majority of voters support school choice and independent charter school options. According to a recent poll, 67 percent of likely Wisconsin voters support school choice, including a majority of republicans, independents and democrats.
“Wisconsin kids deserve choice and independent charter schools,” the narrator adds. “Why would someone take that away?”
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