SB989: Bill Text

Private School Choice Program

Under current law, the Department of Public Instruction administers the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, and the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. Current law includes a pupil participation limit on the WPCP that applies through the end of the 2025-26 school year.

Under the bill, beginning in the 2026-27 school year, DPI will administer the MPCP, the RPCP, and the WPCP as a single program, to be known as the Private School Choice Program. The bill does not change the pupil eligibility requirements that exist under each of the current parental choice programs. For example, under the bill, to be eligible for the Private School Choice Program, a pupil who resides in the Racine Unified School District must meet the eligibility requirements under the RPCP: certain prior year school attendance requirements and a family income that does not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level. Similarly, to be eligible for the Private School Choice Program, a pupil who resides in a school district other than the Racine Unified School District or Milwaukee Public Schools must meet the eligibility requirements under the WPCP: certain prior year school attendance requirements and a family income that does not exceed 220 percent of the federal poverty level.

Under the bill, to participate in the 2025-26 school year, private schools will submit to DPI an intent to participate for the MPCP, RPCP, or WPCP. Similarly, for attendance during the 2025-26 school year, pupils will apply to attend a participating private school under the MPCP, RPCP, or WPCP. During the 2025-26 school year, DPI will transition to the Private School Choice Program created under this bill but will continue to administer the combined program as the three separate parental choice programs. Under the bill, intents to participate and pupil applications made during the 2025-26 school year for participation or attendance in the 2026-27 school year are for the Private School Choice Program.

Other changes

In addition to establishing the Private School Choice Program, the bill includes the following substantive changes:

1. The bill creates a reenrollment process for choice pupils who attend a participating private school on the January count date. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, during a reenrollment period that occurs at the end of January, a participating private school must determine, for each grade it will offer in the following school year, if it will have enough choice program seats in the following school year to offer a choice program seat to each of its current choice pupils. If the participating private school has enough choice program seats for all of its current choice pupils, the participating private school must notify the parents of each current choice pupil that the pupil has been offered a choice program seat for the following school year and the process for the parent to accept the choice program seat. If the private school determines that it does not have enough choice program seats to offer all of its current choice pupils a choice program seat for the following school year, the private school must determine, on a random basis, which current choice pupils receive a choice program seat for the following school year. The private school must then notify the parents of each current choice pupil who does not receive a choice program seat for the following school year that the pupil has been placed on the waiting list for the following school year and notify the parents of each current choice pupil that receives a choice program seat for the following school year that the pupil is being offered a choice program seat for the following school year and the process for the parent to accept the choice program seat.

2. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, if a participating private school offers virtual instruction, the participating private school must ensure that a teacher is responsible for various aspects of the virtual instruction and pupil learning related to that virtual instruction. These requirements mirror current law that applies to virtual charter schools. Additionally, beginning with an intent to participate in a parental choice program in the 2025-26 school year, a private school must indicate in its intent to participate whether the private school intends to offer virtual instruction and, if so, the amount and type of virtual instruction the private school intends to offer. These changes also apply to a private school participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program.

3. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, a participating private school must have a physical location in this state from which the private school is operated. The bill does not require that pupils receive instruction at the physical location. This change also applies to a private school participating in the SNSP.

4. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the bill allows individuals employed by a participating private school who hold a substitute teaching permit issued by DPI to teach at a participating private school, as allowed under the substitute teaching permit. This change also applies to teachers at a private school participating in the SNSP. Additional changes to teacher qualifications under the SNSP are discussed below.

5. The bill makes changes to the financial audit that participating private schools must submit to DPI, including the fiscal and internal practices control report. Under the bill, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, a management letter is not required.

6. For new private schools that intend to first participate in a parental choice program in the 2025-26 school year, the bill makes various changes to the initial requirements that must be satisfied during the 2024-25 school year. For example, a new private school that submits a bond to DPI must provide an updated bond under certain circumstances.

7. The bill changes various deadlines in the Private School Choice Program.

Special Needs Scholarship Program

The bill also makes the following changes to the SNSP:

1. Under current law, a private school may participate in the SNSP if the private school is accredited or if the private school is approved as a private school by the state superintendent of public instruction. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, a private school must be accredited to participate in the SNSP. The bill provides exceptions for private schools that participated in the SNSP before the 2025-26 school year. Under the bill, DPI may bar a private school from participating in the SNSP for failing to comply with the accreditation requirements created in the bill.

2. The bill makes various changes to the financial audit that private schools participating in the SNSP must submit to DPI, including the fiscal and internal control practices report. Under the bill, the financial audit requirements are the same under the SNSP and the Private School Choice Program.

3. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, teachers and administrators at a private school participating in the SNSP are subject to the same requirements that apply to teachers and administrators at a private school participating in the Private School Choice Program. In general, the private school must ensure that a teacher has a teaching license issued by DPI or a bachelor’s degree or higher, including a master’s or doctorate, from an accredited institution of higher education, and that an administrator has a teaching or administrator license issued by DPI or at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education. The bill creates a waiver process for a teacher who has taught for at least the five consecutive years immediately preceding July 1, 2025, but does not satisfy the teacher requirements created in the bill. The bill also requires that, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, a teacher’s aide at a private school participating in the SNSP has at least a high school diploma, declaration of equivalency of high school graduation, or general educational development certificate of high school equivalency.

4. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, a private school participating in the SNSP must allow a child attending the private school under the SNSP to opt out of participating in any religious activity if the child’s parent submits a written request to the child’s teacher or the private school’s principal.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

SB989,,4 The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB989,1 Section 1. 20.255 (1) (j) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,6 20.255 (1) (j) Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and the parental Private school choice program for eligible school districts and other school districts; financial audits. All moneys received under ss. 118.60 (2) (a) 3. and (ag) 1. c. and 119.23 (2) (a) 3. and (ag) 1. c. s. 118.73 (1) (b) to be used to evaluate the financial information submitted under s. 119.23 (7) (am) and (d) 3. and (7m) (a) 2. by private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and under s. 118.60 (7) (am) and (d) 3. and (7m) (a) 2. 118.83 by private schools participating in the private school choice program under s. 118.60 subch. II of ch. 118.

SB989,2 Section 2. 20.255 (2) (fr) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,8 20.255 (2) (fr) Parental Private school choice program for eligible school districts and other school districts. A sum sufficient to make the payments to private schools under s. 118.60 (4) and (4m) 118.84 (1) and (2).

SB989,3 Section 3. 20.255 (2) (fu) of the statutes is repealed.

SB989,4 Section 4. 20.255 (2) (fv) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,11 20.255 (2) (fv) Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and the parental choice Private school choice program for eligible school districts and other school districts; transfer pupils. A sum sufficient to make the payments under ss. 118.60 (4r) and 119.23 (4r) s. 118.84 (5).

SB989,5 Section 5. 39.51 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,13 39.51 (2) Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, from From the appropriation under s. 20.235 (1) (c), the board shall award grants to school districts, charter schools authorized under s. 118.40 (2r), and private schools participating in a the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 subch. II of ch.118 to support dual enrollment programs taught in high schools. These grants shall be awarded for the purpose of assisting high school teachers in covering tuition expenses for courses taken to meet the minimal qualifications necessary to teach dual enrollment courses.

SB989,6 Section 6. 39.51 (3) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,15 39.51 (3) (e) A private school participating in the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 subch. II of ch.118.

SB989,7 Section 7. 39.51 (4) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,17 39.51 (4) (intro.) Following the school year in which a school district, charter school authorized under s. 118.40 (2r), or private school participating in a the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 subch. II of ch.118 receives a grant under sub. (2), the school district, charter school, or private school shall submit to the board a report that includes all of the following information:

SB989,8 Section 8. 48.78 (2) (L) of the statutes is repealed.

SB989,9 Section 9. 49.32 (6m) of the statutes is repealed.

SB989,10 Section 10. 49.83 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,21 49.83 Limitation on giving information. Except as provided under ss. 49.25 and 49.32 (6m), (9), (10), and (10m), no person may use or disclose information concerning applicants and recipients of relief funded by a relief block grant, aid to families with dependent children, Wisconsin Works under ss. 49.141 to 49.161, social services, child and spousal support and establishment of paternity and medical support liability services under s. 49.22, or supplemental payments under s. 49.77 for any purpose not connected with the administration of the programs, except that the departments of children and families and health services may disclose, including by transmitting or granting access to electronic data, such information, including social security numbers, to the department of revenue for the sole purposes of administering state taxes, including verifying refundable individual income tax credits, and collecting debts owed to the department of revenue. Any person violating this section may be fined not less than $25 nor more than $500 or imprisoned in the county jail not less than 10 days nor more than one year or both.

SB989,11 Section 11. 69.20 (3) (h) of the statutes is repealed.

SB989,12 Section 12. 103.005 (14m) of the statutes is repealed.

SB989,13 Section 13. 115.001 (3t) of the statutes is created to read:

SB989,,25 115.001 (3t) Private school choice program. “Private school choice program” has the meaning given for “choice program” in s. 118.70 (3).

SB989,14 Section 14. 115.28 (54m) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,27 115.28 (54m) Notice of educational options. Include on the home page of the department’s Internet site website a link to information about all of the educational options available to children in the state who are at least 3 years old but not yet 18 years old, including public schools, private schools participating in a parental the private school choice program, charter schools, virtual schools, full-time or part-time open enrollment in a nonresident school district, the early college credit program, and options for pupils enrolled in a home-based private educational program.

SB989,15 Section 15. 115.364 (1) (am) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,29 115.364 (1) (am) “Eligible private school” means a private school participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 that increased the amount it expended in the preceding school year to employ, hire, or retain social workers over the amount it expended in the school year immediately preceding the preceding school year to employ, hire, or retain social workers.

SB989,16 Section 16. 115.383 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,31 115.383 (1) (c) If the proposal is approved under par. (b), the state superintendent shall ensure that information about pupils enrolled in charter schools and about pupils enrolled in private schools participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, including their academic performance and demographic information, aggregated by school district, school, and teacher, is collected and maintained in the student information system.

SB989,17 Section 17. 115.383 (2) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,33 115.383 (2) (intro.) If the student information system is established under sub. (1), each school district, charter school, and private school using the system under sub. (1) shall include in the system the following information for each teacher teaching in the school district or school who completed a teacher education program described in s. 115.28 (7) (a) or (e) 2. and located in this state on or after January 1, 2012, or, for each teacher teaching in a private school participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, who obtained a bachelor’s degree from an institution located in this state on or after July 1, 2010:

SB989,18 Section 18. 115.383 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,35 115.383 (3) (b) Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, the The state superintendent shall ensure that every charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) and every private school participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 is either using the system under sub. (1) or is using a system that is commercially available and able to obtain pupil identification numbers under sub. (5).

SB989,19 Section 19. 115.383 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,37 115.383 (4) A private school participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 is not required to include information about pupils who are not attending the private school under s. 118.60 or 119.23 the private school choice program in the system it is using under sub. (3).

SB989,20 Section 20. 115.383 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,39 115.383 (5) The state superintendent shall assign to each pupil attending a public school or charter school, and to each pupil attending a private school under s. 118.60 or 119.23 the private school choice program, a unique identification number for use in the student information system. The state superintendent shall not assign to any pupil an identification number that is identical to or incorporates the pupil’s social security number or that uses any other personally identifying information.

SB989,21 Section 21. 115.385 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,41 115.385 (2) Beginning with the accountability report published for the 2015-16 school year, the The department shall include in its annual school accountability report under sub. (1) charter schools established under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) and private schools participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23. The department shall use the same criteria to measure the performance of all schools included in the annual school accountability report.

SB989,22 Section 22. 115.385 (3) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,43 115.385 (3) (intro.) On an accountability report published for a private school participating in a the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, the department shall specify the percentage of pupils attending the private school under the private school choice program and comply with one of the following:

SB989,23 Section 23. 115.385 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,45 115.385 (3) (b) For a private school that submits achievement data for those pupils attending the private school under s. 118.60 or 119.23 the private school choice program and achievement data for all other pupils attending the private school, assign to the private school a performance category derived from data about pupils attending the school under s. 118.60 or 119.23 the private school choice program and identify the performance category as the choice pupil performance category. The department shall also assign a 2nd performance category, derived from data about all pupils attending the private school including pupils attending the private school under s. 118.60 or 119.23 the private school choice program, as the private school performance category.

SB989,24 Section 24. 115.385 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB989,,47 115.385 (4) Annually, each public school, including a charter school, and each private school participating in a parental the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 shall provide a copy of the school’s accountability report to the parent or guardian of each pupil enrolled in or attending the school. Each school shall simultaneously provide to the parent or guardian of each pupil enrolled in the school a list of the educational options available to children who reside in the pupil’s resident school district, including public schools, private schools participating in a parental the private school choice program, charter schools, virtual schools, full-time or part-time open enrollment in a nonresident school district, the youth apprenticeship program under s. 106.13, the early college credit program, and options for pupils enrolled in a home-based private educational program. A school that does not operate high school grades is not required to include an educational option that is offered only to high school pupils in a list of educational options provided under this subsection.

SB989,25 Section 25. 115.39 (1) (b) 2. of the statutes, as created by 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, is amended to read:

SB989,,49 115.39 (1) (b) 2. A private school participating in a the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23.

SB989,26 Section 26. 115.39 (3) (a) 2. b. of the statutes, as created by 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, is amended to read:

SB989,,51 115.39 (3) (a) 2. b. From the eligible schools identified under subd. 1., the office shall select at least 2 eligible schools that are private schools participating in a the private school choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23.

SB989,27 Section 27. 115.7915 (1) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

SB989,,53 115.7915 (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB989,,54 (a) “Accrediting entity” has the meaning given in s. 118.70 (1).

SB989,,55 (b) “Administrator” means the superintendent, supervising principal, executive director, or other person who acts as the administrative head of a private school participating in the program under this section.

SB989,,56 (c) “Disqualified accrediting organization” has the meaning given in s. 118.70 (4).

SB989,,57 (d) “Eligible school” means a private school located in this state.

SB989,,58 (e) “January count date” means the 2nd Friday in January or an alternative date designated by the department under sub. (4) (c).

SB989,,59 (f) “Preaccreditation” has the meaning given in s. 118.70 (13).

SB989,,60 (g) “Preaccrediting entity” has the meaning given in s. 118.70 (14).

SB989,,61 (h) “Resident school board” means the school board of a resident school district.

SB989,,62 (i) “Resident school district” means the school district in which a pupil resides.

SB989,,63 (j) “September count date” means the 3rd Friday in September or an alternative date designated by the department under sub. (4) (c).

SB989,,64 (k) “Services plan” has the meaning given in 34 CFR 300.37.

SB989,,65 (L) “Teacher” has the meaning given in s. 118.70 (19).

SB989,28 Section 28. 115.7915 (2) (c) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

SB989,,67 115.7915 (2) (c) The eligible school satisfies the requirements under sub. (2m).

SB989,29 Section 29. 115.7915 (2) (i) of the statutes is created to read:

SB989,,69 115.7915 (2) (i) The eligible school maintains at least one physical location in this state from which the eligible school is operated.

SB989,30 Section 30. 115.7915 (2m) of the statutes is created to read: