Hundreds Wait as School Year Looms

Thanks to a cap on enrollment, nearly 600 children remain locked out of the public school of their choice, just weeks before the start of the school year. 563 students who hope to enroll in one of Wisconsin?s online public charter schools remain on a state-mandated waiting list, according to figures provided by the Department of Public Instruction and released by the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families.
?The arbitrary and onerous enrollment cap is needlessly impacting the lives of hundreds of Wisconsin families,? said Coalition Vice President Julie Thompson. ?The teacher?s union and some politicians demanded this outrageous cap, and the families are paying the price?imagine it is almost August and hundreds of families don?t know where their children will be attending school in a few weeks.?

How the Cap Works

* Families who wanted to enroll their children in virtual public charter schools in Wisconsin for the 2010-11 school year submitted their open enrollment applications to virtual schools in February.
* After returning students and their siblings take their spaces (according to state law these applicants have priority) new applicants are admitted to the extent that space is available under the enrollment cap.
* Because of the enrollment cap, DPI had to determine if the number of new applicants to virtual schools would cause the number of students enrolled to exceed the 5,250 cap. Because that cap was reached, the new applicants who were allowed to enroll have to be selected at random.
* DPI reported that there were 4,151 new applicants for the 2010-11 school year, more new applicants than there were spaces available for new applicants under the enrollment cap.
* Taking into consideration returning students, state law only allowed 2,395 new applicants to, in May, receive firm approval to enroll. DPI told the schools which specific new applicants should receive firm approval letters in May.
* The 1,756 new applicants whose applications were not firmly approved were placed on a waiting list.
* During the wait, several families opt for more certainty and decide not to send their children to the virtual school of their choice.

As of today: 1,193 students on the waiting list could be offered spaces, which leaves 563 still waiting and hoping, mere weeks before school is to start. "The enrollment cap is cumbersome, requires a great deal of bookkeeping by state bureaucrats and needlessly keeps families in the lurch," said Thompson. "This summer our Coalition will be asking every candidate for state office one simple question: 'Will you work to eliminate this arbitrary, onerous cap on virtual school enrollment in Wisconsin?'"

For more information, visit www.wivirtualschoolfamilies.org