The bill creates a new aid program for driver schools and for school boards,
independent charter schools, and CESAs that offer a driver education program to
pupils who meet the income eligibility standard for a free or reduced-price lunch in
the federal school lunch program. To be eligible for this aid, a driver school, school
board, independent charter school, or CESA must demonstrate to DPI that it waived
at least one-half of its program participation fees for eligible pupils. Under the bill,
DPI pays the driver school, school board, operator of the independent charter school,
or CESA an amount equal to one-half of its program participation fee multiplied by
the number of eligible pupils who completed the driver education program in the
previous school year.
Out-of-school time program grants
The bill creates a grant program under which DPI must award grants to school
boards and organizations to support high-quality after-school programs and other
out-of-school time programs that provide services to school-age children. DPI must
award grants in amounts of not less than $80,000 and not more than $145,000 per
school year, and each grant may continue up to five school years. In each school year,
DPI must award not less than 30 percent of all grant moneys to out-of-school time
programs that serve pupils in the elementary grades.
Computer science licensure grant program
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the bill requires DPI to award grants to
school districts to assist licensed school district employees in obtaining additional
licensure that authorizes the employee to teach computer science in public schools.
For purposes of awarding these grants, the bill requires DPI to prioritize school
districts if 50 percent of the school district's membership is low income or 40 percent
of the school district's membership identify as a minority.
Energy efficiency grant program
The bill creates a grant program under which DPI must award grants to school
districts for energy efficiency projects in school buildings. For the first two school
years of the grant program, DPI must give preference in awarding grants to projects
that relate to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. DPI, in

consultation with the Office of Environmental Justice, may promulgate rules to
implement the grant program.
Primary and secondary education: choice, charter, and open enrollment
Parental choice program caps
The bill caps the total number of pupils who may participate in the Milwaukee
Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, or the statewide
parental choice program (parental choice program) at the number of pupils who
attended a private school under the parental choice program in the 2021-22 school
year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, if the number of
applications to participate in a parental choice program exceeds the program cap,
DPI must determine which applications to accept on a random basis, subject to
certain admission preferences that exist under current law.
Under current law, pupils may submit applications to attend a private school
under the statewide parental choice program for the following school year from the
first weekday in February to the third Thursday in April, and a private school that
receives applications must, no later than the first weekday in May immediately
following the application period, report the number of applicants to DPI so that DPI
may determine whether a pupil participation limitation has been exceeded. The bill
provides that, beginning with applications for the 2022-23 school year, DPI must
establish one or more application periods during which pupils may submit
applications to attend a private school under the MPCP or RPCP. The bill provides
that a private school that receives applications during an application period must,
no later than 10 days after the application period ends, report the number of
applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether a program cap has been
exceeded. The bill does not change the application period for the statewide parental
choice program and requires DPI to use the information required to be reported
under current law to determine whether the program cap for the statewide parental
choice program has been exceeded.
The bill also requires DPI to establish a waiting list for a parental choice
program if the program cap for the parental choice program has been exceeded.
Current law specifies that a pupil who moves to Racine or Milwaukee from
somewhere else in the state after being accepted into the statewide parental choice
program is not counted for purposes of determining whether a school district
exceeded its pupil participation limit. The bill provides that such a pupil also is not
counted for purposes of determining whether a program cap for a parental choice
program has been exceeded. The bill also requires DPI to promulgate rules
consistent with those current law pupil counting provisions to ensure that, if a pupil
who is accepted to attend a private school under a parental choice program changes
the pupil's residence, the pupil will not be counted for purposes of determining
whether the pupil participation limit or program cap that applies to the pupil's new
residence has been exceeded. In other words, the rules would address situations in
which a pupil moves 1) from Racine to Milwaukee or somewhere else in the state; or
2) from Milwaukee to Racine or somewhere else in the state.

Special Needs Scholarship Program cap
Under current law, a child with a disability who meets certain eligibility criteria
may receive a scholarship to attend a private school participating in the Special
Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP). The bill caps the total number of children who
may receive an SNSP scholarship at the number of children who received an SNSP
scholarship in the 2021-22 school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2022-23
school year, if the number of applications for SNSP scholarships exceeds the program
cap, DPI must determine which applications to accept on a random basis, subject to
certain admission preferences set forth in the bill.
Under current law, a child may apply for an SNSP scholarship at any time
during a school year and may begin attending the private school at any time during
the school year. The bill provides that, beginning with applications for the 2022-23
school year, children may submit applications for SNSP scholarships for the school
year from the first weekday in April to the first Thursday in June of the prior school
year, and a private school that receives applications for SNSP scholarships must, no
later than the third Thursday in June immediately following the application period,
report the names of applicants to DPI so that DPI may determine whether the
program cap has been exceeded. No later than 60 days after the end of the
application period, DPI must notify each applicant and each private school whether
the applicant has been awarded an SNSP scholarship.
The bill requires DPI to establish a waiting list if the program cap for the SNSP
has been exceeded. The bill allows a child receiving an SNSP scholarship to apply
during a school year to transfer from one participating private school to another.
Eliminating the Office of Educational Opportunity
The bill eliminates the Office of Educational Opportunity (OEO) as a charter
school authorizer. Under current law, a charter school may be authorized by a school
board, the director of the OEO, the common council of the City of Milwaukee, the
chancellor of any institution in the UW System, any technical college district board,
the College of Menominee Nation, the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community
College, or the county executive of Waukesha County. The bill provides that,
beginning on the effective date of the bill, the OEO may not authorize any additional
charter schools. Under the bill, a charter school authorized by the OEO before the
effective date of the bill may continue to operate under its contract but may not renew
or extend the contract. The bill provides that, upon expiration of the contract, the
charter school may enter into a contract with any other authorizer to continue
operating as a charter school.
Payment indexing; parental choice programs, the Special Needs
Scholarship Program, independent charter schools, full-time open
enrollment program, and whole grade sharing agreements
Under current law, the per pupil payment amounts under the MPCP, the RPCP,
the statewide parental choice program, and the SNSP, the per pupil payment amount
to independent charter schools, the transfer amounts under the full-time open
enrollment program, and the required transfer amount for a child with a disability
in a whole grade sharing agreement (collectively “per pupil payments”) are adjusted
annually. The annual adjustment for per pupil payments is an amount equal to the

sum of any per member revenue limit increase that applies to school districts in that
school year and any per member increase in categorical aids between the current
school year and the previous school year. Under the bill, beginning in the 2021-22
school year, the annual adjustment for per pupil payments is the sum of the per
member revenue limit increase that applies to school districts in that school year, if
any, and the increase in the per member amount of per pupil aid paid to school
districts between the previous school year and the current school year, if any.
Per pupil payment and transfer amount based on actual costs; Special Needs
Scholarship Program and full-time Open Enrollment
2017 Wisconsin Act 59, the 2017 biennial budget, created a process that allows
the per pupil payment under the SNSP and the transfer amount for a child with a
disability in the full-time open enrollment program to be determined based on the
actual costs to educate the pupil in the previous school year, as reported by the
private school or the nonresident school district. The first SNSP payments and
full-time open enrollment transfer amounts based on the actual costs were paid in
the 2019-2020 school year.
The bill repeals the process for determining SNSP per pupil payments and
full-time open enrollment transfer amounts based on actual costs and reinstates the
per pupil payment amount under the SNSP and the full-time open enrollment
transfer amount for a child with a disability that existed prior to the 2017 biennial
budget. Under the bill, the SNSP per pupil amount and the full-time open
enrollment transfer amount for children with disabilities is the same for all pupils
and is determined by law. In the 2020-21 school year, the amount is $12,977.
Statewide and Racine parental choice programs; previous school year
attendance requirement
Under current law, a pupil must satisfy at least one of the following to be eligible
to participate in the statewide parental choice program or the RPCP: 1) the pupil was
enrolled in a public school in the previous school year; 2) the pupil was not enrolled
in school in the previous school year; 3) the pupil attended a private school in the
statewide parental choice program, RPCP, or MPCP in the previous school year; 4)
the pupil was on a waiting list to attend a private school in the statewide parental
choice program, RPCP, or MPCP in the previous school year; 5) the pupil attended
school in another state in the previous school year; or 6) the pupil is enrolling in
kindergarten, first grade, or ninth grade in the current school year.
For purposes of this requirement, the bill specifies that a pupil is “enrolled in
a public school in the previous school year” if 1) the pupil was counted in a school
district's membership count, which means the pupil was counted as being enrolled
in a school district on at least one of the count dates during the previous year, or
attended an independent charter school in the previous school year; and 2) the pupil
did not attend a private school during the previous school year.
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program; first class city school levy aid
Under current law, the estimated cost of the payments made to private schools
participating in the MPCP is partially offset by two reductions in the general school
aid otherwise paid to the Milwaukee Public Schools. For the 2010-11 school year and
in each school year thereafter, one of the reductions to MPS is an amount equal to

6.6 percent of the cost of payments made to private schools participating in the
MPCP. Current law requires DPI to pay an amount equal to that reduction amount
to the City of Milwaukee and requires the City of Milwaukee to pay that amount to
the board of school directors of MPS. The bill eliminates the 6.6 percent aid reduction
and the requirements that the reduction amount be paid by DPI to the city and by
the city to the board. The bill does not make any changes to the other state aid
reduction.