Making Choices: Parent Perspectives on the Special Needs Scholarship Program in Wisconsin

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Advocacy and Community Engagement in Special and Inclusive Education

Abstract

he Wisconsin legislature approved the Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) in 2015, allowing parents of children with disabilities to take advantage of school choice. In 2016-17, 235 students used the SNSP at 26 private schools; by October 2020, 1,425 students and 124 schools participated, respectively; an increase of just over 500% in students, just under 500% in schools (Department of Public Instruction, 2021). What are the factors that parents consider when choosing to take part in the SNSP? I conducted qualitative interviews with parents who use the SNSP. Their responses explain what parents find to be important in selecting a school; and what they may be trying to avoid by opting out of the public system.

Author

• Nancy E. Rice, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee