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February 25, 2008
For more information, contact
Christina Brey, WEAC Communications Coordinator
608-298-2519
In testimony before the Assembly Education Committee today, WEAC Executive Director Dan Burkhalter called on the Assembly to pass Senate Bill 396 to keep virtual charter schools open and give the state a chance to assess the schools’ educational quality and fiscal impact. Senate Bill 396 passed the Senate on February 19 with an amendment requiring a state audit and a flexible enrollment cap. Governor Jim Doyle has said he will veto any virtual charter school bill that does not include an audit and a cap.
Burkhalter reiterated WEAC’s position on virtual charter schools and emphasized the urgency of understanding the impact of virtual charter schools in Wisconsin’s precarious school funding environment before any harm to the state’s 876,000 public school students is irreparable.
“Since the Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in December 2007 that virtual charter schools were operating in violation of Wisconsin’s education laws, WEAC has called upon the Legislature to pass legislation requiring fiscal and academic accountability for virtual charter schools while enabling virtual charter school students to continue their education uninterrupted,” Burkhalter said to the members of the Assembly Education Committee. “For the sake of students enrolled in virtual schools, for the sake of all public school students, and for the sake of taxpayers in Wisconsin, WEAC urges you to pass SB 396 as amended by the Senate.”
Because virtual charter schools are new, and their accountability up to now has been minimal, the impact they could have on other school districts is unknown. Virtual schools operate under the state’s open enrollment law even though the law was written and passed long before virtual schools existed. An audit and cap will give the state the information and time it needs to make commonsense adjustments, to open enrollment and other laws, suitable to a virtual charter school world.
“The open enrollment law was not developed with virtual charter schools in mind,” Burkhalter said. “If lawmakers had envisioned the phenomenon of virtual charter schools, perhaps they would have capped enrollment or crafted an alternative way of funding virtual charter schools that does not encourage inter-district predatory behavior.”
With so many school districts struggling under the state’s local school revenue caps law, even relatively small impacts can have devastating effects. And, currently, no one knows if the impact from virtual charter schools will be small or large.
“The public school funding crisis is real,” Burkhalter said. “Throughout the state, 43 school districts are going to referendum in April to attempt to override the caps that are driving them toward bankruptcy. More than one-quarter of Wisconsin’s school districts report they may be forced to close or consolidate. School districts across the state have been forced to cut critical education programs and lay off staff. It is time to stop the fiscal bleeding.”
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More information about virtual charter schools is available on WEAC’s website:
“Virtual schools must be accountable, Bell says” [2/22/08]
“Let’s get real about school funding” [2/21/08]
“Virtual charter bill is responsible and fair” [2/19/08]
“WEAC awaits details and data on proposed virtual charter school legislation” [1/25/08]
“WEAC calls for fiscal, academic accountability in virtual charter school legislation” [1/24/08]
“WEAC seeks balanced legislation that makes virtual schools accountable to all stakeholders” [1/17/08]
“WEAC applauds appeals court ruling on Wisconsin Virtual Academy” [12/5/07]
