Life After Vouchers: Expansion, Accountability &

Outcomes

Part I: Challenges Moving Forward

In General, Wisconsin Schools are High Performing…

Nearly 9 out of 10 (86%) rated schools meet expectations or better.*

Only 4% fail to meet expectations.

Accountability Rating for Wisconsin Schools

*Excludes schools that did not receive a rating.

3%34%

49%

10%

4%

Significant Exceeds ExpectationsExceeds Expec-tationsMeets ExpectationsMeets Some Ex-pectationsFails to Meet Expectations

Wisconsin Schools are High Performing

865%

69336%

90447%

1699%

583%

Significant Exceeds ExpectationsExceeds ExpectationsMeets ExpectationsMeets Few ExpectationsFails to Meet Expectations

Schools

*Excludes schools that did not receive a rating.

Nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) rated schools

meet or exceed expectations.*

92%

13432%

26964%

102%

10%

Significant Exceeds ExpectationsExceeds ExpectationsMeets ExpectationsMeets Few ExpectationsFails to Meet Expectations

DistrictsAlmost all districts meet or

exceed expectations.*

2013-13 District & School Report Cards

But Poverty is Growing in WI…

Change in Free & Reduced Lunch (2001-2012)

Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. School Finance Maps. http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/maps.html

In many rural districts, more than half the students are eligible for free-and-reduce lunch.

Wisconsin FRL Rate Doubles

2001: 21%2012: 43%

And is a Particular Challenge for Rural Districts

Free & Reduced Price Lunch Declining Enrollment

Moreover, Poverty Impacts Student Performance

There is a very strong correlation between poverty and school performance.

Avg. FRL

HIGH-poverty, LOW-performing schools

LOW-poverty, HIGH-performing schools

Wisconsin is Increasingly Diverse…

Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction & University of Wisconsin –Madison, Applied Population Laboratory. Raw Data Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2009. http://nces.ed.gov/

year

2017

2014

2011

2008

2005

2002

1999

1996 -0.0199999999999998

2.32452945780892E-16

0.0200000000000002

0.0400000000000002

0.0600000000000002

0.0800000000000002

0.1

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

Native American, 0.013

Asian, 0.028

Black, 0.094

Hispanic, 0.033

Proportions of Students of Color in Wisconsin (1997-2019)

Pop

ula

tion

Pro

port

ion

But Students of Color are More Likely to Attend a Low-Performing

School

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% Amer. Ind. % Asian % Black % Hispanic % White

? ? ?So, What Should We Do?

Vouchers for

Private Schools

More Money

Less Money

Charter

SchoolsVirtual Schools

FlexibilityState

Intervention

Longer School Day

Longer School Year

Bottom LineHow do we equip our successful, schools to do even

better in an increasingly competitive world?

And how do we improve our struggling schools to ensure no child is left

behind, particularly in rural areas?

Part II. The State Budget & Education Funding

School Funding – Simplified!

Property Tax Levy

State Equalization

Aid

Revenue Limit

Categorical AidFederal FundsOther Revenue

Outside the Revenue Limit

Revenue Limits Have Been Cut…

($600)

($500)

($400)

($300)

($200)

($100)

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400 Change in Per-Pupil Revenue Over Time

"Psuedo-General" Categorical Aid Revenue Limit Change

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-130

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

4543.1

39.8 40.1 39.3 38.1 37.6 37.3 37.134.1 33.1

4.3 3.9 3.7 3.5 4.3 4.7 6.1 6.2 6.2 6

School Aids School Levy/First Dollar Tax Credit

Perc

enta

ge S

hare

of

Sta

te G

enera

l Fund

Budget

Shrinking Share of the General Fund

Significant Staff ReductionsTeachers Aides Administrators Support Staff

-2000

-1500

-1000

-500

0

500

-599

-355

26

215

-690

-153-43

-130

-1,676

-812

-175

-785

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12Wisconsin schools cut more than 3,000 educators during the Great Recession.

And Categorical Aid Reimbursement Rates Have

Fallen

Reimbursement rates for special education (36% to 26%) and bilingual-bicultural (18% to 8%) services have dropped 10 percentage points since 2000-01.

In the Last Budget, Voucher Schools

got the Biggest Increase…

Public Schools Ind. Charter Voucher Schools

$- $200 $400 $600 $800

$1,000 $1,200 $1,400 $1,600 $1,800 $2,000

$300$300($150

Cat. Aid)

$768

Public schools also get a $75 per student categorical aid for all kids.

$1,414

Per-Pupil Revenue Increase by School Type

Although, Voucher Schools Get Less Than Public Schools (But

Getting Closer)

Public Schools Ind.

Charters Voucher Schools

$-

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

2011-13

2013-15

$1

0,2

00

$7

,75

0

$6

,44

2

$1

0,3

50

$8

,05

0

$7

,85

6

Total Per-Pupil Revenue by School Type

Bottom LineOn Average, the State funds 61% of the cost for public school

students.

However, the State pays 100% of the cost of the statewide voucher and independent charter

students.

Part III. Vouchers, Charters, and Virtual Schools, Oh My!

Most Kids Attend Public School

83%

4%1%

3%

10%Public Independent Char-ter Schools (7,500)

Private School Vouchers(25,000)

Public Schools(822,500)

Private School (Tuition-Paying)(98,000)

Public SchoolOpen Enroll-ment(41,500)

Wisconsin enrolls about 5,000 students in Virtual Charter Schools

(district and open enrollment)

Total Enrollment (2012-13)

Public Schools: 875,000Private Schools: 120,000

But Voucher Enrollment Grows Over Time

1991

-92

1993

-94

1995

-96

1997

-98

1999

-00

2001

-02

2003

-04

2005

-06

2007

-08

2009

-10

2011

-12

2013

-14

(Est

.) -

5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000

341

In 1998, the State Supreme Court ruled that religious schools could participate in the voucher program.

In 1991-92, the Voucher Program cost $733,800In 2014-15, the Voucher Program will cost:$208,656,000

Private School Choice Programs

2013-14 Estimates

FTE Student

sEnrollment Restriction Costs

MilwaukeeMPCP

25,500 •300% Federal Poverty ($70,947 family of four)•No enrollment cap; •Only students from Milwaukee•61.6% State funded; 38.4% Local funded

$164.3 million

RacineRPCP

750 •300% Federal Poverty ($70,947 family of four)•No enrollment cap; •Only students from Racine•100% State funded

$4.8 million

WisconsinWPCP

500 •185% Federal Poverty ($43,752 family of four)•Enrollment cap: 500 in 2012-13; 1,000 in 2013-14•No students from Milwaukee or Racine•100% State funded

$3.2 million

Over Time, almost All the Students in a Voucher School are Publicly-

FundedIn 2012-13, 78% of students enrolled in any given choice school participated in MPCP.

• 1/5 of choice schools were 100% choice students;

• 1/2 of choice schools were 95% or more choice students;

• 3/4 of choice schools were 68% or more choice students.

And Most Statewide Voucher Students Came From Private Schools

1,39367%

37172%

122%

224%

10%

Sales

PublicPrivateHomeschoolNo SchoolOut-of-State

Statewide Choice Program Enrollment:

3/4th of the students were already enrolled in private

schools

Overall, Students in Milwaukee Continue to Struggle

Reading Proficient/Advanced % Mathematics Proficient/Advanced %0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

9.9%12.0%

14.0%

19.7%16.6%

29.9%

35.8%

48.2%

20.5%

30.9%

2011-12 Wisconsin Student Assessment Scores (Using the new college & career ready standards)

MPCP (Voucher) MPS (All students) Independent ChartersState (All) State (Econ Disad)

Note: All students, rather than full academic year (FAY) students are shown for comparison purposes. While FAY data is usually used for accountability purposes, it is not available for choice schools.

Bottom LineFor 20 years, the voucher program

in Milwaukee has increased educational options, but not

student achievement.

How does further expanding this program statewide make

sense, given the existing fiscal challenges?