Policy Update: Wisconsin: Minor Adjustments

Vital Statistics
426	Public school districts
2,092	Public schools
892,000	K-12 enrollment
17.4%	Minority students
14%	Children in poverty
12.5%	Students with disabilities
$6.3 billion	Annual K-12 expenditures (all revenue sources)

Achievement will be measured by assessments given to students in grades 4, 8, and 10 and graded as "minimal," "basic," "proficient," and "advanced." Students who do not receive a rating of basic or better starting in the 2002-03 school year will not be promoted.

Critics contend that the new standards are inconsistent and that the assessments, which predate the standards and have been used since 1993, don't test the material students are now required to know.

"A lot of people don't have a feeling these are credible exams," says Republican Sen. Alberta Darling, who chairs the Senate education committee and generally supports the state's reform efforts. "Some standards are extremely rigorous, and others are very easy."

For our 50-state testing survey, Wisconsin officials told Education Week that it considers the current tests to be substantially aligned to the state's standards.

Educators say they will continue to tinker with the testing program to bring it fully in line with the standards. As part of the state's $9.9 billion biennial budget, legislators budgeted $1.3 million in fiscal 1999 for revising the assessments in grades 4, 8, and 10, and $800,000 for developing a graduation exam.

In addition to standards for the core academic subjects, the state planned to set achievement guidelines for foreign-language courses, the arts, physical education, family and consumer education, environmental education, computer literacy, international relations, and business classes by the beginning of this year. Districts can devise their own packages, thanks to a provision in the legislation allowing some students and districts to opt out of the state tests.

Wisconsin has also expanded school choice. The state last fall implemented open enrollment for students who want to attend school outside their home districts. More than 5,800 students are participating in the program, Doyle of the state education department says.

Last June, the Wisconsin Supreme Court became the first state high court to rule that providing a tuition voucher to parents who then send their children to a religious school does not violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against government establishment of religion.

The U.S. Supreme Court last November declined to hear voucher opponents' appeal of that decision.

The Wisconsin high court's landmark ruling upheld a controversial 1995 state law that broadened the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, established in 1990. The program initially offered vouchers to no more than 1,500 poor children attending secular private schools. This school year, some 6,100 Milwaukee students are using vouchers, worth roughly $4,960 each, to attend private schools, including religious schools. Under the law, vouchers are available for 15,600 students, or 15 percent of the district's enrollment.

Funding for the vouchers is redirected from the budget of the 106,000-student Milwaukee school district and could cost $75 million a year, Doyle says.

The state last year agreed to expand a charter school provision allowing school boards to contract with for-profit companies and made allowances for converting existing private schools into charter schools.

To provide more flexibility in Milwaukee, the state implemented a 1997 law giving the Milwaukee Common Council, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Milwaukee Technical College the authority to approve and administer charter schools. The law is believed to be the first to allow a municipality to authorize charter schools. The Common Council flexed its power last July, agreeing to use state money to pay for four charter schools.

In his annual State of the State Address, Republican Gov. Tommy G. Thompson proposed that the district reduce its number of dropouts and improve attendance, graduation rates, and 3rd grade reading scores by 2000 or face a state takeover. If the district failed to make changes, the governor, the state superintendent, and the mayor would have appointed a three-member commission to replace the nine-member elected school board. But lawmakers rejected the plan.

Some said the plan would have diminished local control, and critics in Milwaukee called the plan racist, citing Thompson's failure to consult with minority leaders during the research process.

Meanwhile, legislators did nothing to address growing concerns over school financing, nor do they intend to address the problem this year.

The state pays two-thirds of the costs of public schools and, in an attempt to keep local property taxes under control, caps the amount districts can spend. Teacher salaries also are limited.