Life After Vouchers: Expansion, Accountability & Outcomes

1. Life After Vouchers: Expansion, Accountability & Outcomes

2. Part I: Challenges Moving Forward

3. In General, Wisconsin Schools are High Performing… Accountability Rating for Wisconsin Schools Nearly 9 out of 10 (86%) rated schools meet expectations or better.* Only 4% fail to meet expectations. *Excludes schools that did not receive a rating.

4. Wisconsin Schools are High Performing 2013-13 District & School Report Cards Schools Districts Almost all districts meet or exceedexpectations.* Nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) rated schools meet or exceed expectations.* *Excludes schools that did not receive a rating.

5. But Poverty is Growing in WI…Change in Free & Reduced Lunch (2001-2012) Wisconsin FRL Rate Doubles 2001: 21%2012: 43% In many rural districts, more than half the students are eligible for free-and-reduce lunch. Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. School Finance Maps. http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/maps.html

6. And is a Particular Challenge for Rural Districts Free & Reduced Price Lunch Declining Enrollment

7. Moreover, Poverty Impacts Student Performance HIGH-poverty, LOW-performing schools LOW-poverty, HIGH-performing schools Avg. FRL There is a very strong correlation between poverty and school performance.

8. Wisconsin is Increasingly Diverse… Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction & University of Wisconsin –Madison, Applied Population Laboratory. Raw Data Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2009. http://nces.ed.gov/

9. But Students of Color are More Likely to Attend a Low-Performing School

10. So, What Should We Do? Vouchers for Private Schools ? ? ? Less Money Longer School Day Virtual Schools More Money Flexibility Charter Schools Longer School Year State Intervention

11. Bottom Line How do we equip our successful, schools to do even better in an increasingly competitive world? And how do we improve our struggling schools to ensure no child is left behind, particularly in rural areas?

12. Part II. The State Budget & Education Funding

13. School Funding – Simplified! Outside the Revenue Limit

14. Revenue Limits Have Been Cut…

15. Shrinking Share of the General Fund

16. Significant Staff Reductions Wisconsin schools cut more than 3,000 educatorsduring the Great Recession.

17. And Categorical Aid Reimbursement Rates Have Fallen • Reimbursement rates for special education (36% to 26%) and bilingual-bicultural (18% to 8%) services have dropped 10 percentage points since 2000-01.

18. In the Last Budget, Voucher Schools got the Biggest Increase… Per-Pupil Revenue Increase by School Type $1,414 Public schools also get a $75 per student categorical aid for all kids.

19. Although, Voucher Schools Get Less Than Public Schools (But Getting Closer) TotalPer-Pupil Revenue by School Type

20. Bottom Line On Average, the State funds 61% of the cost for public school students. However, the State pays 100% of the cost of the statewide voucher and independent charter students.

21. Part III. Vouchers, Charters, and Virtual Schools, Oh My!

22. Most Kids Attend Public School Total Enrollment (2012-13) Public Schools: 875,000 Private Schools: 120,000 Wisconsin enrolls about 5,000 students in Virtual Charter Schools (district and open enrollment)

23. But Voucher Enrollment Grows Over Time In 1998, the State Supreme Court ruled that religious schools could participate in the voucher program. In 1991-92, the Voucher Program cost $733,800 In 2014-15, the Voucher Program will cost: $208,656,000

24. Private School Choice Programs

25. Over Time, almost All the Students in a Voucher School are Publicly-Funded In 2012-13, 78%of students enrolled in any given choice school participated in MPCP. • 1/5 of choice schools were 100% choice students; • 1/2 of choice schools were 95% or more choice students; • 3/4 of choice schools were 68% or more choice students.

26. And Most Statewide Voucher Students Came From Private Schools Statewide Choice Program Enrollment: 3/4th of the students were already enrolled in private schools

27. Overall, Students in Milwaukee Continue to Struggle Note: All students, rather than full academic year (FAY) students are shown for comparison purposes. While FAY data is usually used for accountability purposes, it is not available for choice schools.

28. Bottom Line For 20 years, the voucher program in Milwaukee has increased educational options, but not student achievement. How does further expanding this program statewide make sense, given the existing fiscal challenges?