The more than 3,000 children enrolled in Wisconsin's online public charter schools, often called virtual schools, differ on which subjects are their favorites. When I was in school, I was particularly fond of literature. Fittingly, thousands of Wisconsin families find themselves in the midst of a real-life three act play. After successfully battling the opponents of educational reform, supporters of virtual schools rallied (quite literally) to achieve a bipartisan agreement that could save their schools. Now, as Act III winds down, the actions of the state Legislature and the governor in the next few weeks will determine whether this is a mere drama or an absolute tragedy.
After a devastating Appeals Court ruling threatened the continued operation of the state's public virtual schools, two drastically different pieces of legislation were introduced in Madison. Then, thanks to the hard work of Democrat Sen. John Lehman, Republican Sen. Luther Olsen and Republican Rep. Brett Davis, both SB396 and AB697 were amended with identical language reflecting the bipartisan compromise announced last month. Then, the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan passed both Senate and Assembly Education Committees. This critical compromise passed the Senate Committee unanimously, and the Assembly Committee on a bipartisan vote of 6-3. Both bills are ready to be scheduled for a vote in their respective houses.
The Speaker of the Assembly has expressed support of the bipartisan compromise; however, the Assembly announced it will not be in session until Feb. 26th, thus further reducing the window of opportunity for our compromise legislation to pass both houses yet this spring. The Senate on Thursday announced it will take up the legislation Feb. 19.
Some opponents of public virtual schools are thinking of adding amendments to alter this delicately-crafted, carefully negotiated compromise to place an arbitrary cap on virtual school enrollment. There should not be any cap on enrollment in public virtual schools. For four reasons:
1. At this late date, any amendment to the deal that has already been brokered between members of both parties could derail this compromise, kill the bill and close these schools.
2. The virtual school finance system is revenue neutral, so caps are not needed for financial reasons; the same amount of tax money is spent whether students are in virtual schools or brick and mortar schools.
3. Wisconsin already has a very short three-week open enrollment period which puts a constraint on how many kids enroll in virtual schools in any one year.
4. Finally, virtual school students make up only 0.3 percent of total K-12 students in the state and they come from school districts all across the state, so there is no discernible impact on any given district from having a tiny percentage of its students choose to enroll in virtual schools.
At a time when acrimony and skepticism rule throughout the political spectrum, the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan stands out as quite a positive accomplishment. Republicans, Democrats, school administrators, school boards, unionized teachers, parents and students all support this deal. No one side believes they got all they wanted. But that is the very definition of compromise. There is a chance for a happy ending to this drama.
However, the deep-pocketed, politically-connected state teachers union wants this compromise to die. They oppose the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan and are hoping (and working) to run out the clock, amend or otherwise derail the deal.
How will this story end?
It sure is a cliffhanger.
After a devastating Appeals Court ruling threatened the continued operation of the state's public virtual schools, two drastically different pieces of legislation were introduced in Madison. Then, thanks to the hard work of Democrat Sen. John Lehman, Republican Sen. Luther Olsen and Republican Rep. Brett Davis, both SB396 and AB697 were amended with identical language reflecting the bipartisan compromise announced last month. Then, the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan passed both Senate and Assembly Education Committees. This critical compromise passed the Senate Committee unanimously, and the Assembly Committee on a bipartisan vote of 6-3. Both bills are ready to be scheduled for a vote in their respective houses.
The Speaker of the Assembly has expressed support of the bipartisan compromise; however, the Assembly announced it will not be in session until Feb. 26th, thus further reducing the window of opportunity for our compromise legislation to pass both houses yet this spring. The Senate on Thursday announced it will take up the legislation Feb. 19.
Some opponents of public virtual schools are thinking of adding amendments to alter this delicately-crafted, carefully negotiated compromise to place an arbitrary cap on virtual school enrollment. There should not be any cap on enrollment in public virtual schools. For four reasons:
1. At this late date, any amendment to the deal that has already been brokered between members of both parties could derail this compromise, kill the bill and close these schools.
2. The virtual school finance system is revenue neutral, so caps are not needed for financial reasons; the same amount of tax money is spent whether students are in virtual schools or brick and mortar schools.
3. Wisconsin already has a very short three-week open enrollment period which puts a constraint on how many kids enroll in virtual schools in any one year.
4. Finally, virtual school students make up only 0.3 percent of total K-12 students in the state and they come from school districts all across the state, so there is no discernible impact on any given district from having a tiny percentage of its students choose to enroll in virtual schools.
At a time when acrimony and skepticism rule throughout the political spectrum, the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan stands out as quite a positive accomplishment. Republicans, Democrats, school administrators, school boards, unionized teachers, parents and students all support this deal. No one side believes they got all they wanted. But that is the very definition of compromise. There is a chance for a happy ending to this drama.
However, the deep-pocketed, politically-connected state teachers union wants this compromise to die. They oppose the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan and are hoping (and working) to run out the clock, amend or otherwise derail the deal.
How will this story end?
It sure is a cliffhanger.
