Private voucher school, Northside, fails to meet minimum standards

Another sub-par private voucher school has been dropped from the state-funded program.

Milwaukee's Northside High School does not meet standards set by law to be considered a private school, and because it is not legally a school, it doesn't qualify for money supporting schools, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

The state disperses voucher payments four times a year to qualifying private schools as part of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Northside already received a payment in September of $309,611.

State law requires schools to offer at least 875 hours of instruction, and Northside does not meet this minimal standard, DPI officials said in a letter to the CEO of Northside, Ricardo Brooks, who was involved with another substandard private voucher school, Academic Solutions. After DPI ordered Academic Solutions closed last year, Northside opened in its old location.

The state now has stricter regulations against allowing leaders of deficient private schools to reopen other schools. Under new regulations, there is a waiting period of seven years.

In October, the state ordered Ida B. Wells Academy out of the state-funded program. At that time, Northside was under investigation.

Resource page on private voucher schools

Posted November 18, 2005