GB school voucher plan in jeopardy

MADISON (AP) - The Legislature's budget committee planned on Thursday to approve expanding the voucher school program beyond the city of Milwaukee, despite arguments from Democrats and other opponents that the move would be a further privatization of public education.

Co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee said the Republican-controlled panel would approve expanding vouchers to the city of Racine and all of Milwaukee County. Currently, vouchers to attend private and religious schools at taxpayers' expense are only
allowed in the city of Milwaukee.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker had talked about expanding vouchers into Green Bay and Beloit as well, but committee co-chairs Rep. Robin Vos and Sen. Alberta Darling said at a news conference there wasn't enough support to do that yet. They urged people in those communities to let their feelings be known.

"It just seemed like certain people weren't ready for that to happen in their community," Vos said when asked why vouchers weren't being expanded to Green Bay. Vos, who is from the Racine area, said there has been widespread support for vouchers in that city for years.

"We think this is a major step forward," he said.

The expansion was to be added to Walker's budget by the committee later Thursday. The budget was expected to be sent as soon as Friday to the full Legislature. It must pass the Senate and Assembly, both of which are controlled by Republicans, and be signed by Walker before taking effect.

The committee also planned to loosen the income requirement to participate in the voucher program. Currently to qualify, a family must earn less than 175 percent of the federal poverty level, or $39,630 for a family of four.

Vos said for the next school year, only 250 students would be allowed to use vouchers in Racine but they could earn up to 185 percent of the poverty level, or $41,348 for a family of four. In the second year, 500 students would be allowed and they could earn up to 300 percent of the poverty level, or $67,050 for a family of four.

After that, there would be no enrollment cap in Racine.

The income level to participate in the program in Milwaukee would be 300 percent of poverty.

Also, the committee plans to go along with Walker's plan to eliminate the program's statewide 22,500-student enrollment cap. The committee also planned to do away with a 5,250-student enrollment cap for virtual charter schools.

Supporters of Milwaukee's 20-year-old voucher program say it gives is about giving families more choices in where to send their children to be educated, but Democrats deride it as the privatization of public education.

State Superintendent Tony Evers has blasted expanding the voucher program, calling it a morally wrong thing to do at the same time Walker's budget would cut public school aid by about $800 million over the next two years.

Evers, in a letter to the budget committee, urged them to focus on improving achievement of all Wisconsin school children before cutting aid to education and bolstering vouchers.

Private and religious schools that accept voucher students receive $6,442 from the state for each pupil. About 21,000 students are enrolled in the program, which is below the current cap that would be eliminated. The program has cost about $130 million in taxpayer money this year.

Walker is also asking the committee to approve eliminating a requirement that voucher students take the same statewide achievement tests that public school students must take.

This year, results were released for the first time comparing public school and voucher students. They showed voucher students lagging behind their peers in public schools. Supporters of the voucher program say the test results don't tell the full story and that other studies have shown the students have higher graduation rates than their public school counterparts.

The debate comes as Republicans across the country are pushing to expand voucher programs after the GOP made big gains in the 2010 elections. Groups that support school choice issues, such as vouchers, were big financial supporters of Republicans across the country and in Wisconsin.