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As the director of  in Milwaukee, Franz Meyer has students asking him about driver鈥檚 education opportunities almost daily.

He said students want to learn to drive, but options are limited and often unaffordable.

鈥淚鈥檇 tell them you can go to this place, but they only have so many slots, or you can go here, but it costs $350,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淏ut it clearly wasn鈥檛 enough. Some young people just take the risk and drive anyway.鈥�

He said the cost of driver鈥檚 education courses range from  $100 to $400.

Help may soon be available. The , or WisDOT, is expected to roll out a free program that would provide driver鈥檚 education for Wisconsin high school students in need.

Wisconsin Act 86, which was signed by Gov. Tony Evers in early December, 

According to the, from 10,000 to 13,300 students will be eligible to receive driver鈥檚 education grants under the program.

Common Ground launches campaign

The grants are a result of  three-year campaign, which started after a listening session the group held in 2021.

Common Ground is a nonpartisan organization that allows residents to identify problems in the community and then find solutions.

Jennifer O鈥橦ear, the lead organizer and executive director of Common Ground, said funds are expected to be available by July.

Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation declined to comment on when the funds will be available and how students and their families can access them for driver鈥檚 education. They said the program is in the 鈥渄evelopment stage.鈥�

Listening to community concerns

O鈥橦ear said Common Ground heard 982 people say reckless driving was their No. 1 concern.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had many incidents around this area (Milwaukee’s Sherman Park) where young people are getting in cars not knowing how to drive and causing accidents,鈥� said Frank Finch, a Common Ground leader involved in the campaign.

As the conversation evolved from hearing residents鈥� concerns to creating solutions, Common Ground leaders pointed to driver鈥檚 education as a tool to address reckless driving.

According to O鈥橦ear, Wisconsin funded driver鈥檚 education from 1961 until 2004.

However, the state still requires youths under 18 to enroll in a school or commercial driving program in order to get a learner鈥檚 permit and probationary license.

鈥淲e learned that there is a whole generation of kids out there that don鈥檛 know how to drive because they never had access to driver鈥檚 education,鈥� Finch said.

Pathways High鈥檚 Meyer, who has been in his position for six years, participated in the campaign along with several of his students.

One of his students, Shankayla Caldwell, said the cost of driver鈥檚 ed created challenges for her.

鈥淚 have been struggling to find access to driver鈥檚 ed, and it鈥檚 been kind of hard because of the prices,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ike I really, really wanted to drive, and I know I can鈥檛 go without my license, so it鈥檚 been just a lot of waiting.鈥�

According to a 2016 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute study, the most recent data available, only 30% of 18-year-olds in Milwaukee have a driver鈥檚 license compared to 66% of 18-year-olds statewide.

Additionally, only 30% of African American and Hispanic 18-year-olds hold a driver鈥檚 license compared to 75% of white 18-year-olds.

Through the community listening sessions, Common Ground leaders identified the need for long-term funding for driver鈥檚 education for students as a way to combat reckless driving.

O鈥橦ear and Finch said the campaign got rolling when they met Andy Franken, the president of  the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance. The group, which represents the property and casualty insurance industry, advocates and advances policy for those groups.

鈥淥nce I saw the specific stories and studies about Milwaukee and statewide, I knew this was a cause worth being involved in,鈥� Franken said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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