WEAC supports legislation to hold private and religious voucher schools to the same standards as public schools, including:

• Minimum hours of instruction.
• Licensure of all instructional staff.
• Background checks on teachers.
• Grade advancement, high school graduation, attendance and parental involvement requirements and standards.
• Administration of required state standardized tests and testing required under the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law, including public reporting requirements.
• Prohibition of forced religious activity.
• Nondiscrimination standards.
• Enforcement by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) of rules and regulations.
• Certified reading specialists and reading programs.

Under the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, state tax funds are used in the form of vouchers to send children from lowincome families to private and/or religious schools located in the City of Milwaukee. In fiscal year 2007-08, $120 million in general purpose revenue was allocated to the program, making it Wisconsin’s third highest funded state school aid program.

While state taxpayer dollars are used to fund the voucher program, participating private schools do not meet the same standards as public schools, are not subject to the same testing requirements as public schools and are not required to employ
certified teachers.

Investments in great schools build strong communities, but despite the more than $636 million that has been spent on the Milwaukee private school voucher program from 1990 through June 2007, little accountability is demanded of the participating schools. The state Legislature enacted some fiscal accountability measures as part of 2003 Wisconsin Act 155, requiring participating schools to provide evidence of sound fiscal practices and financial viability. The next legislative session, lawmakers enacted 2005 Wisconsin Act 125 to require voucher schools to become accredited, administer a nationally normed standardized test in reading, math, and science to pupils in the 4th, 8th and 10th grades, and provide test scores to the School Choice Demonstration Project, a pro-voucher think tank.

Every kid deserves a great school, and the measures proposed here provide minimal levels of accountability in addition to DPI’s current enforcement authority, which it has exercised in recent years. During the 2007-08 school year, the DPI barred at least 11 schools from participating in the state-subsidized voucher program for a variety of reasons including unsound fiscal practices and lack of a valid occupancy certificate.
Over the past several years dozens of schools have been terminated or ruled ineligible to participate.

Both academic and fiscal accountability are needed to ensure
that children are protected and receiving at least a sound basic
education.

Additional Information

Contact Deb Sybell, WEAC Legislative Program Coordinator, at 800-362-8034 ext. 227 or by e- mail at sybelld@weac.org with any reactions, comments or questions.

Posted May 12, 2008