Doyle Signs Virtual Charter School Legislation
Governor Doyle on Monday (April 7, 2008) signed into law a compromise bill regulating virtual charter schools.
The bill keeps online schools available for Wisconsin families while increasing quality and accountability standards. It requires an audit of virtual charter schools and places a 5,250 permanent enrollment cap on them. About 3,500 students currently attend the schools.
The Legislature took up the issue after a court of appeals unanimously ruled in December that Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), an online taxpayer-funded charter school operated by the Northern Ozaukee School District, violated the state’s charter school and open enrollment statutes, and relied on parents to serve as teachers in violation of the teacher certification law. The court also ruled that WIVA could not use the open enrollment statute (its primary source of funding) to provide education to students who receive their education outside the borders of the district to which they had open-enrolled. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by WEAC.
The ruling led to considerable debate in the Legislature, but ultimately Democrats and Republicans agreed on compromise legislation that accomplished WEAC's goal when it filed the lawsuit: develop legislation, as other states have, that encourages innovation, protects taxpayers and students, and ensures that all students attend great schools.
In March, when the bill was given final legislative approval, WEAC President Mary Bell said WEAC supports the compromise.
“Since the Court of Appeals ruled 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 that considers the needs of all of Wisconsin's public school students, including the students currently enrolled in virtual charter schools and the 876,000 students enrolled in traditional public schools,” Bell said. “This compromise agreement does that.”
According to an analysis by the Department of Public Instruction, the bill signed by Doyle (Senate Bill 396) defines a virtual charter school in Wisconsin; requires licensed educators and a minimum
number of days of instruction for virtual charter schools; creates a state Web academy, which will
open online learning to more students without having to open-enroll in another school; and requires
the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a financial and performance audit of virtual charter schools
by the end of 2009. Other provisions include:
- Teachers must be available to provide direct pupil instruction for at least the minimum
number of hours specified by grade level under current law. No more than 10 hours in any
24-hour period may count toward this requirement.
- Teachers must respond to inquiries from pupils or from the parents or guardians of pupils by
the end of the first school day following the day on which the inquiry is received.
- Teachers are prohibited from teaching online, beginning July 1, 2010, if the teacher has not
had 30 hours of professional development designed to prepare teachers for online teaching.
Other bills signed by Doyle include:
- Assembly Bill 906 directs the Department of Public Instruction to provide special education reimbursement to schools for salaries of personnel based on the percentage of time school personnel dedicate to assisting children with disabilities.
- Senate Bill 493 requires school boards and private school governing bodies to provide information annually to professional staff related to suicide prevention resources available from the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Children and Families, and other sources.
- Assembly Bill 623 gives the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) more flexibility in investing trusts in manners according to their standard of responsibility, and authorizes SWIB to manage building commission public debt accounts.
Resource Page on Virtual Charter Schools
Posted April 8, 2008