by State Senator Alberta Darling
After years of back and forth battles between politicians and special interest groups, the time has come to end Milwaukee’s school choice enrollment cap issue once and for all.
Currently, the number of pupils eligible to participate in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) is capped at 15 percent of the enrollment of the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) district. In anticipation of reaching the 15 percent cap, DPI will begin implementing a rationing plan for seats in the program next month.
If the current enrollment cap stays in place, up to 4,000 students will lose seats in the schools they have chosen and dozens of schools will face the prospect of closing. I believe the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program is an important and valuable complement to the public school system in Milwaukee. It has been since the first day it began. In partnership with MPS and other Milwaukee charter schools, I believe the program helps to provide the best educational opportunities for all city students.
Last week I called on Governor Doyle to work directly with the Legislature to avert the imposition of rationing, now set to begin February 20. And with the state’s rationing plan on the immediate horizon, I have authored a no-strings-attached bill that will prevent school choice rationing and lift the cap for good.
The legislation will lift the enrollment cap and eliminate some existing eligibility barriers that bar many low-income families from entering or remaining in the program. The bill also directs the Legislative Audit Bureau to provide comprehensive reports on standardized test scores based on an independent scholarly research project that will begin this year. Sadly, Governor Doyle previously has vetoed bills to conduct independent research on the MPCP and bills to end the enrollment cap.
To counter opponents who feel the program’s fiscal and criminal accountability standards need to be improved, the facts are that those schools that are found to be under performing or negligent in their ability to teach children are being kicked out of the system. I firmly believe the current efforts to lift the cap are warranted and necessary so that current and future voucher children in Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods are not turned away from the educational opportunities so many others currently enjoy.
To learn more about these issues, or to keep up to date on my work in Madison, join my monthly Email Club by contacting my Madison office at (800) 863-1113, or sen.darling@legis.state.wi.us.
To provide some feedback on this column, contact me at (800) 863-1113, or sen.darling@legis.wi.gov.
