| Scholarship or Voucher Value: |
The voucher is worth up to the amount of state funding (but not local funding) for each student in Milwaukee public schools. In 2006-07, the voucher is worth up to $6,501. The voucher may not exceed the private school’s per-student costs, including operating expenses and debt service.
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| Student or School Participation: |
In 2006-07, 17,275 students are using vouchers at 124 private schools. In 2005-06 the program hit the prior enrollment cap of 15 percent of Milwaukee Public Schools’ student population; in March 2006 the cap was raised to 22,500 students.
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| Student Eligibility: |
Students who live in Milwaukee and whose family income does not exceed 175 percent of the federal poverty level ($35,523 for a family of four in 2006-07) are eligible to receive a voucher. Once families join the program, their family income can rise to 220 percent of the federal poverty level ($44,658 for a family of four in 2006-07) before they lose eligibility; this higher income eligibility threshold also applies to siblings of current voucher students. Participating private schools must accept voucher students at random if they have more applicants than open seats, although preference is given to siblings of current participants.
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| Legal Status of Program: |
The program did not originally include religious schools; when it was expanded to include those schools in 1995, the expansion was challenged in court and a judge issued an injunction barring religious schools from participating. On June 10, 1998, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that including religious schools did not violate the First Amendment because the program “has a secular purpose” and “will not have the primary effect of advancing religion.” In November 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal.
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| Regulations on the Program: |
Participating private schools must accept all eligible students. They also must obey all laws that apply to Wisconsin private schools, follow state accounting standards, file an independent audit, comply with health and safety codes and comply with civil rights laws. In addition, students enrolled at religious schools must be allowed to opt out of religious instruction if they choose. Starting in 2006-07, participating schools must give a nationally normed standardized test in reading, math and science to all voucher students in grades 4, 8, and 10. Also, schools that are not either accredited by one of a given set of organizations or approved to participate in Wisconsin’s Partners for Advancing Values in Education scholarship program must apply for accreditation by the end of 2006 and achieve it by the end of 2009.
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| Research on Program: |
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| News on Program: |
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| Governing Statutes: |
Wisconsin Statues, Section 119.23 |
