Wisconsin now funding driver education for low-income teens

By Nick Rommel, WPR

For 43 years, Wisconsin publicly funded driver’s education for teenagers. Then, in 2004, budget cuts ended the program. Teens under 18 still had to complete driver’s ed to receive instruction permits and probationary licenses, but had to pay for classes themselves.

Now, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will use $6 million from 2023’s biennial budget to cover the cost of driver’s ed for 15 to 17-year-old residents who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

At a press conference Thursday, WisDOT Deputy Secretary Kristina Boardman said students can apply for a grant on the website of the Wisconsin DMV.

“Students who receive the grants can enroll in any driver education program offered by an authorized provider, and the tuition is paid directly to the driver training provider,” Boardman said.

The grants cover all 30 hours of classroom time, six hours of observation and six hours of behind-the-wheel training mandated by state law.

Program seeks to address reckless driving

The push for the program came from Common Ground, a community organizing group in Milwaukee. The group talked to 982 people in a 2021 listening campaign and learned that reckless driving was an overriding concern.

[…]

Disparities in teen licensing

Khalil Stewart is a senior at Pathways High, a charter school in Milwaukee. He has four siblings and said his mother works two jobs.

“It’s so much that she does for me and my siblings,” Stewart said at the press conference. “And $400 towards driver’s ed for her — she had told me this — is either $400 towards groceries, or it’s $400 towards driver’s ed. And that’s a hard choice in a household with kids.”

Continue reading.

Safe driving may protect Black drivers from interactions with the police.

Stop by ABHM’s breaking news archive before you leave.