History of Voucher System in Wisconsin.
Milwaukee’s voucher program is the nation’s oldest, created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1990.
In 1995, the legislature eliminated funds for data collection and program evaluation when it expanded the voucher program to include religious schools.
In 1995 the legislature amended the law to include religous schools.
In June 1998, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that inclusion of religious schools in the program does not violate the U.S. or the Wisconsin state constitutions' prohibitions against government support of religion.
In 2000, the Legislative Audit Bureau Report stated that nine Milwaukee voucher schools — over 10 percent — “had no accreditation, were not seeking accreditation and administered no standardized tests.
In the 2000-01 school year, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction sanctioned 14 voucher schools for fraud, mismanagement and lack of compliance with state law.
More than 13,000 students receiving vouchers in 2004
A school that is under orders to repay the state more than $35,000 for over-payments in Milwaukee's private school voucher program is among 11 schools that have been ordered out of the program by the state Department of Public Instruction.
The 120-plus private schools, with about 20,000 students, will have to give standardized tests and report the results, employ teachers who have at least bachelor's degrees and meet the same minimum hours of instruction as public schools, according to the agreement that is part of the state budget proposal endorsed Friday by the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee.
In June 2011, Gov. Scott Walker signed the 2011-2013 state budget into law that expanded the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and created the Racine Parental Choice pilot program. Changes to the Milwaukee voucher program include: removing enrollment caps, expanding student eligibility and expanding school participation eligibility. The Racine voucher program allows students in the Racine Unified School District to receive a voucher to attend a participating private school. The program has an enrollment cap of 250 in the first year and 500 in the second, and no cap in subsequent years.
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