Common Ground Wins $6 Million for Driver Education

“Having universal, affordable driver education is one step towards reducing reckless driving as well as giving our young people a tool they need to find a job and vote!” declared Frank Finch III, Common Ground (CG) leader and President of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church.

Today Common Ground leaders will join Governor Tony Evers in Madison for the signing of Assembly Bill 394, which directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish and administer a driver education grant program that, each year, will make $6 million available to Wisconsin high school students who qualify for free or reduced lunch so that they can afford driver’s education.

In our 2021 listening campaign, we listened to 982 people and reckless driving was the number one concern. A team of CG leaders identified the need for long-term funding for driver’s education for high school age students.  We worked with the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance to get $6 million placed into the most recent Wisconsin state budget to subsidize driver’s education for students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch and then to pass this bill, which authorizes DOT to set up a grant program to distribute the funds to qualifying high school students.  In addition to the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, State Senator Dan Knodl, and State Representative Bob Donovan were champions of this effort to help more of our youth learn the rules of the road.

From 1961 until 2004, the State of Wisconsin funded driver’s education through a categorical aid  program. With State budget cuts in 2004, the funding ended, but the State still requires youth under  18 to enroll in a school or commercial driving program as a condition of obtaining a learner permit  and probationary license. Many teens are forgoing driver education and training due to costs of  commercial driving programs. The results have led to more dangerous roads and high crash and  fatality rates.

Citing her personal experiences with reckless driving in Milwaukee, CG leader Brenda McMurtry from Lamb of God Missionary Baptist Church, declared: “I am sick and tired of feeling unsafe when I drive the streets of Milwaukee!  We need to give our young people the opportunity to learn safe driving practices.”

]The program will be paid for with existing insurance industry fees. Over the past several years, the Office  of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has lapsed between $26 – $27 million annually to  the state’s general fund as general purpose revenue.

The MPS Drive program, managed by Senior Director Lynn Greb and the staff of Milwaukee Recreation, needs additional funding so that it can be expanded to be available to the 5000 eligible students per year from public, charter and choice high schools in Milwaukee.  Under the program, students will only pay $35 for their learner’s permit. Milwaukee Public Schools is funding MPS Drive for MPS students but the temporary federal ESSER funding will need to be replaced by 2024.  If the program is to be maintained and expanded $1.7 million per year will be needed.

“This campaign is more than a response to reckless driving,” declared McMurtry, “a driver’s license is also a key to employment for young people and greater racial equity”.

According to a 2016 study by the UWM Employment and Training Institute, only 30% of Milwaukee 18-year-olds have a driver’s license compared to 66% of 18-year-olds statewide.  Further, only 30% of African American and Hispanic 18-year-olds hold a driver’s license compared to 75% of white 18-year-olds.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.