In 2019–20, the maximum voucher amount is $8,046 for grades K–8 and $8,692 for grades 9–12. Each school year, maximum voucher payments increase by the dollar amount increase equal to the dollar amount increase in general school aid to Wisconsin public schools.

Wisconsin families with income no more than 220 percent of the federal poverty level ($56,650 for a family of four in 2019–20) and who do not reside in the Milwaukee Public Schools or the Racine Unified school districts are eligible. Moreover, a family’s income limit increases by $7,000 if the student’s parents or legal guardians are married. Each district currently has an enrollment cap of 4 percent of its public school district enrollment able to participate in the program. This cap will increase by 1 percentage point each year until the enrollment limit reaches 10 percent, then there will no longer be a cap. Students previously on a voucher wait list because of this cap will be eligible after it is expanded.

Wisconsin took an encouraging step toward universal school choice by allowing all low-income Wisconsin students to be eligible to receive vouchers, excluding those in two school districts that each have their own school choice programs. Although there is no student enrollment cap, this program does contain a district percentage enrollment cap and grade-level entry point restrictions. About 200 students were on the waitlist for the 2019–20 school year. The program also imposes burdensome regulations on private schools, such as requiring a single state test and interfering with the mission of religious schools by prohibiting them from requiring religious classes for participating students. Like the Milwaukee and Racine programs, lawmakers could improve this program by increasing voucher amounts, removing income tests for eligibility, removing any grade-level entry point restrictions and eliminating unnecessary regulations on private schools.

• Income Limit: 220 percent x poverty
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: Conditional
• Geographic Limit: Statewide (except for Milwaukee and Racine)
• Enrollment Cap: 4 percent of each public district’s enrollment (escalator)
• Voucher Cap: $8,046 (K–8) / $8,692 (9–12)
• Testing Mandates: State

School Requirements:

• Meet state nondiscrimination policies
• Allow students to opt out of religious programs
• Administer state testing to scholarship recipients in third, fourth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th grade
• Receive accreditation within three years of participating in the program
• Annually submit to the state a financial audit conducted by a certified public accountant
• Provide the state evidence of sound fiscal practices and financial viability
• School administrators must undergo financial training and have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education
  • Teachers must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education, and teacher aides must have received a high school diploma or been granted a GED or HSED
• Administer background checks for all employees
• Provide 1,050 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades 1–6 and 1,137 hours of direct pupil instruction in grades 7–12
• Provide the department of public instruction with information about the academic program at the participating school and student test score data
• Meet all health and safety codes

Wis. Stat. § 118.60

No legal challenges have been filed against the program.