MADISON - State Rep. Brett Davis and Republican lawmakers are offering a less restrictive enrollment cap in an attempt to gain the governor's approval of a bill that would keep the state's 12 virtual schools, including Monroe's, open.
Davis, R-Oregon, and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, sent a letter to Gov. Jim Doyle late Wednesday afternoon, saying they'll agree to cap enrollment at 1 percent of all students in K-12 public schools, or about 8,760 kids. Currently, about 3,500 children are enrolled in virtual schools.
In the letter, Davis and Huebsch say it's clear Doyle will not sign legislation that doesn't include enrollment caps. The Assembly Education Committee, which Davis chairs, voted 6-4 Tuesday on a bill that does not include caps. The Senate last week passed with a 17-16 vote a version that would freeze virtual school enrollments at the 2008-09 level for two school years, then allow it to gradually increase to 4,500 by 2014.
Davis said he doesn't believe enrollment should be capped, but he knows Doyle won't sign anything into law until he gets what he wants.
"I'm a realist," Davis said. "I want to make sure these schools stay open."
Doyle spokeswoman Jessica Erickson said the governor likes virtual school legislation the state Senate passed last week.
"The governor believes the bill already amended by the Senate protects these kids and their siblings and insures they can remain in their schools while we study the system," Erickson said.
The Assembly is scheduled to consider the bill, including the compromise provisions, today.
The compromise plan includes an audit of virtual schools to gauge their effectiveness, something the governor also has asked for and the Senate included in its version of the bill. Siblings of virtual school students would be exempt from the cap, which would sunset after seven years.
The cap would be statewide, not on a school-by-school basis, which may prevent students from attending the virtual school of their choice. Students atttending where the sending district concurs in the placement in the virtual charter school also are exempt from the cap.
Doyle announced his enrollment caps requirement Feb. 15, essentially ending a compromise deal reached by Davis and Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, which governed virtual schools but didn't include an enrollment cap. That compromise legislation was approved by both the Assembly and Senate education committee's.
In their letter to Doyle, Davis and Huebsch point out that there was never any testimony in favor of enrollment caps during committee hearings.
"Moreover, no one testified in favor of locking students out by freezing enrollment for two years," Davis and Huebsch wrote the governor.
They told Doyle that the Senate committee passed the bill unanimously and Wisconsin Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster also supported the compromise bill.
Davis' committee on Monday had a public hearing, at which Dan Schoof, deputy secretary of administration for Doyle, defended the governor's plan for enrollment caps.
"A senior member of your administration and the executive director of the Wisconsin Education Association Council testified in favor of a lockout and cap but were not able to base their support ... on any data," Davis and Huebsch wrote.
They said they think the compromise they offered to Doyle is "reasonable."
"We are optimistic that we can come to an agreement on this important issue," they told the governor.
Virtual schools are online classrooms that children attend from home. Students from kindergarten through high school can attend. Supporters hail the system as a difference-maker for kids who don't learn well in traditional schools.
A state appeals court in December ruled the Wisconsin Virtual Academy violates state laws on teacher licensing, open enrollment and charter schools. The court ordered the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to stop funding the WVA - an order other virtual schools worry soon will apply to them.
Republicans have accused Doyle of being too close to the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union. That group contends virtual schools pull too much money from traditional public schools and brought the lawsuit that has thrown the schools' future into doubt.
Davis, R-Oregon, and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, sent a letter to Gov. Jim Doyle late Wednesday afternoon, saying they'll agree to cap enrollment at 1 percent of all students in K-12 public schools, or about 8,760 kids. Currently, about 3,500 children are enrolled in virtual schools.
In the letter, Davis and Huebsch say it's clear Doyle will not sign legislation that doesn't include enrollment caps. The Assembly Education Committee, which Davis chairs, voted 6-4 Tuesday on a bill that does not include caps. The Senate last week passed with a 17-16 vote a version that would freeze virtual school enrollments at the 2008-09 level for two school years, then allow it to gradually increase to 4,500 by 2014.
Davis said he doesn't believe enrollment should be capped, but he knows Doyle won't sign anything into law until he gets what he wants.
"I'm a realist," Davis said. "I want to make sure these schools stay open."
Doyle spokeswoman Jessica Erickson said the governor likes virtual school legislation the state Senate passed last week.
"The governor believes the bill already amended by the Senate protects these kids and their siblings and insures they can remain in their schools while we study the system," Erickson said.
The Assembly is scheduled to consider the bill, including the compromise provisions, today.
The compromise plan includes an audit of virtual schools to gauge their effectiveness, something the governor also has asked for and the Senate included in its version of the bill. Siblings of virtual school students would be exempt from the cap, which would sunset after seven years.
The cap would be statewide, not on a school-by-school basis, which may prevent students from attending the virtual school of their choice. Students atttending where the sending district concurs in the placement in the virtual charter school also are exempt from the cap.
Doyle announced his enrollment caps requirement Feb. 15, essentially ending a compromise deal reached by Davis and Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, which governed virtual schools but didn't include an enrollment cap. That compromise legislation was approved by both the Assembly and Senate education committee's.
In their letter to Doyle, Davis and Huebsch point out that there was never any testimony in favor of enrollment caps during committee hearings.
"Moreover, no one testified in favor of locking students out by freezing enrollment for two years," Davis and Huebsch wrote the governor.
They told Doyle that the Senate committee passed the bill unanimously and Wisconsin Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster also supported the compromise bill.
Davis' committee on Monday had a public hearing, at which Dan Schoof, deputy secretary of administration for Doyle, defended the governor's plan for enrollment caps.
"A senior member of your administration and the executive director of the Wisconsin Education Association Council testified in favor of a lockout and cap but were not able to base their support ... on any data," Davis and Huebsch wrote.
They said they think the compromise they offered to Doyle is "reasonable."
"We are optimistic that we can come to an agreement on this important issue," they told the governor.
Virtual schools are online classrooms that children attend from home. Students from kindergarten through high school can attend. Supporters hail the system as a difference-maker for kids who don't learn well in traditional schools.
A state appeals court in December ruled the Wisconsin Virtual Academy violates state laws on teacher licensing, open enrollment and charter schools. The court ordered the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to stop funding the WVA - an order other virtual schools worry soon will apply to them.
Republicans have accused Doyle of being too close to the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union. That group contends virtual schools pull too much money from traditional public schools and brought the lawsuit that has thrown the schools' future into doubt.