MILWAUKEE — Donald Trump jumped into deep blue territory this week, appealing to voters on an issue not often discussed in presidential campaigns: school choice.
President Trump named Milwaukee as the “home of the first and oldest school choice program.”
The former president held a rally Tuesday in Dane County, another Democratic stronghold in Wisconsin, before facing a smaller crowd in the state's largest city, Milwaukee, where students from low-income families were offered private schools. The Parent Choice Program, established in 1990, was in place to give children the option to attend.
Former Governor Tommy Thompson introduced Mr. Trump in Milwaukee in order to increase voter turnout in the state, which was known for its narrow margins in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections (1% in both 2016 and 2020). He said he recommended visiting Dane and Milwaukee counties.
President Trump's visit to Dane County is the first time a Republican presidential candidate has campaigned in the county since Bob Dole in 1996.
In Milwaukee, the former president declared education “the civil rights issue of our time.”
“No parent should be forced to send their children to a failing government-run school,” he said, reading out with obvious astonishment that Milwaukee Public Schools' proficiency rate was 16 percent. Ta.
In 2022, Milwaukee Public Schools' 4th and 8th grade students are below 15% proficient in reading and math, according to the latest National Center for Education Statistical Scorecard.
The choice of a school choice event in Brew City may signal the campaign's hopes of energizing voters, traditionally a Democratic stronghold, on an issue that divides voters.
A survey of registered voters in Wisconsin conducted by Marquette University School of Law in the summer of 2024. Found 26% of Democrats were dissatisfied with public schools, compared with 63% of Republicans and 57% of independents who were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their public schools. In Milwaukee, 78% of respondents were dissatisfied with public schools overall.
President Trump reiterated his campaign platform position that his administration would drastically cut the Department of Education and “bring it back to the states.”
“Democrats want to keep minority students in government-run schools,” he said, before sharing the microphone with current and former school choice students on the committee during his speech.
Before taking questions from reporters, President Trump delivered a rambling remark to a crowd of mostly media and panelists in a small theater at Discovery World that covered most of the campaign's talking points with education. went.
The event was originally scheduled to accommodate more participants, but the number of spectators was reportedly reduced due to safety and capacity concerns. Leave some Trump supporters behind Confused and disappointed.
Before the event, The Post spoke with prospective attendee Laura Pals, 56, who runs a nonprofit organization that “supports pregnant women in need.” “I think he's a great candidate across the board,” Paras said of Trump.
“The economy was doing very well under him. I think he'll bring it back and cut spending.”
Paras said he likes President Trump's approach to education, giving decision-making power to families and local governments rather than the federal Department of Education.
Ned Daniels Jr., a former Potawatomi Forest County chairman, told the Post before entering the venue that he had traveled to northern Wisconsin to “listen to President Trump and see what he's thinking.” He said he came from Crandon to Milwaukee.
Daniels said he believes the economy is the most important issue in the Forrest County Potawatomi race, but foreign affairs are also important.
“We need leadership to stand up and end the rhetoric,” he said. He believes Trump has the “ability to sit down and sit down and get something done” with foreign leaders.
“I hope he remembers us,” Daniels said of the former president. “I think he’s probably the guy that’s going to take us going forward.”
Mr. Daniels' wife, Kim, once a supporter of Kamala Harris — “she's a woman and a minority,” he said — but now supports Mr. Trump.
“Harris needs to stand up for what she says, but she flips out too much,” said Kim Daniels, who is self-employed. “I was rooting for her. I was a supporter at first, too.”
