Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, should be commended for his words of support last week for the state's 12 virtual schools, which includes the Monroe Virtual School.
The future of online education in Wisconsin remains in doubt despite bipartisan compromise legislation that was written late last month and approved by the Assembly and Senate education committees. The challenge comes from a possible amendment that would put an enrollment cap on virtual schools.
The Senate is scheduled to consider the virtual school legislation today. The Assembly is likely to take up the issue next week.
No official amendment proposal has been made, so no one knows exactly what the enrollment cap would entail. But Monroe school district Superintendent Larry Brown already has expressed his displeasure with the concept. "No one has explained to me any rational opinions as to why they need the cap."
Erpenbach last Friday said he would not vote for an enrollment cap amendment if the Monroe school district did not support it.
"If Monroe says no, I'm voting no," Erpenbach told The Monroe Times.
His commitment came two days after he and Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, visited the Monroe Virtual School. It was a welcome position for Erpenbach to take.
But, of course, the stronger commitment will come when Erpenbach and others eventually vote on the legislation and any amendments.
Lehman, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, was sounding less committed Friday to virtual schools than he was when he was in Monroe. When Lehman was here, he said he supported the virtual school compromise as it is written, without any amendments. Lehman, you'll remember, first introduced legislation that would have cut state aid to online schools in half and required a percentage of virtual students to reside in the home district.
But on Friday, Lehman said he'd need to wait and see what the amendment said before he decided how he'd vote. So much for the commitment.
The pressure on virtual schools is coming mostly from the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union. The union, while in words saying it supports virtual schools, in deeds has done everything it can to thwart their growth. It filed a lawsuit that essentially said the state's largest online school, the Wisconsin Virtual Academy, was not providing the same quality of education as bricks-and-mortar schools. An appeals court ruling against WVA ordered the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to stop funding the virtual school, leading to the assumption that the same order soon would apply to all online academies.
Then, after last month's bipartisan legislation created guidelines for virtual school instruction - which met with approval from the DPI - the WEAC leadership pushed for enrollment caps.
Not surprisingly, Gov. Jim Doyle last week told Lehman he would not sign virtual school legislation if it did not include enrollment caps. Doyle and WEAC are tied at the political hip on most education issues, for better or worse.
It's time for the Legislature to call Doyle's bluff. It should sign the legislation as it was agreed upon by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle just a few weeks ago and lauded by the DPI and state school Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. It should force Doyle to decide between his allegiance to the teachers union and the future of a promising and growing form of education.
The future of online education in Wisconsin remains in doubt despite bipartisan compromise legislation that was written late last month and approved by the Assembly and Senate education committees. The challenge comes from a possible amendment that would put an enrollment cap on virtual schools.
The Senate is scheduled to consider the virtual school legislation today. The Assembly is likely to take up the issue next week.
No official amendment proposal has been made, so no one knows exactly what the enrollment cap would entail. But Monroe school district Superintendent Larry Brown already has expressed his displeasure with the concept. "No one has explained to me any rational opinions as to why they need the cap."
Erpenbach last Friday said he would not vote for an enrollment cap amendment if the Monroe school district did not support it.
"If Monroe says no, I'm voting no," Erpenbach told The Monroe Times.
His commitment came two days after he and Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, visited the Monroe Virtual School. It was a welcome position for Erpenbach to take.
But, of course, the stronger commitment will come when Erpenbach and others eventually vote on the legislation and any amendments.
Lehman, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, was sounding less committed Friday to virtual schools than he was when he was in Monroe. When Lehman was here, he said he supported the virtual school compromise as it is written, without any amendments. Lehman, you'll remember, first introduced legislation that would have cut state aid to online schools in half and required a percentage of virtual students to reside in the home district.
But on Friday, Lehman said he'd need to wait and see what the amendment said before he decided how he'd vote. So much for the commitment.
The pressure on virtual schools is coming mostly from the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union. The union, while in words saying it supports virtual schools, in deeds has done everything it can to thwart their growth. It filed a lawsuit that essentially said the state's largest online school, the Wisconsin Virtual Academy, was not providing the same quality of education as bricks-and-mortar schools. An appeals court ruling against WVA ordered the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to stop funding the virtual school, leading to the assumption that the same order soon would apply to all online academies.
Then, after last month's bipartisan legislation created guidelines for virtual school instruction - which met with approval from the DPI - the WEAC leadership pushed for enrollment caps.
Not surprisingly, Gov. Jim Doyle last week told Lehman he would not sign virtual school legislation if it did not include enrollment caps. Doyle and WEAC are tied at the political hip on most education issues, for better or worse.
It's time for the Legislature to call Doyle's bluff. It should sign the legislation as it was agreed upon by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle just a few weeks ago and lauded by the DPI and state school Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. It should force Doyle to decide between his allegiance to the teachers union and the future of a promising and growing form of education.
