5 others still lack funding; lawyer, state hope to avoid court fight

Milwaukee-- The state Department of Public Instruction released funds Wednesday to two more choice schools that it initially had said did not meet state requirements for private schools.

But five other applicants remained without state funding weeks into the school year.

Gordon Giampietro, the attorney for four of those schools, said Wednesday night that he had been prepared to file a lawsuit today but that it now appeared litigation could be avoided. The schools have contended all along that they meet the requirements for funding.

"I'm hoping we're going to be able to settle all this stuff without a lawsuit. We're real close on the majority of these," Bob Soldner, DPI's director of school management services, said of the applicants still waiting for funding.

Nevertheless, he said, the department will not release any of the funds until the schools show that they meet the requirements.

Checks were issued Wednesday to Gregory B. Flood Christian Academy and Immanuel Christian Academy. The release of funds followed a DPI review of additional material the applicants submitted to prove that they meet the required minimum of 875 hours of instruction per year and provide the required curriculum in six basic subjects.

Gregory B. Flood and Immanuel were among 13 applicants from which the DPI withheld funds in recent weeks because they were determined not to be private schools or had failed to demonstrate that they met all the requirements to be considered private schools.

Participation in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program is limited to private schools. The voucher program lets low-income children attend private schools at taxpayer expense. Schools participating in the choice program receive $5,326 per pupil.

Nine of those applicants, including Gregory B. Flood, threatened last week to take legal action if the funds were not released.

On Tuesday, the DPI awarded funds to six applicants, including four that had threatened legal action. The six schools are Early View Academy of Excellence, Harbor Cross School, Kindergarten Plus, Lakeshore Montessori School, Ceria M. Travis Academy and Louis Tucker Academy.

But the department did so reluctantly, with state schools Superintendent John Benson continuing to argue that the majority of the schools were day care providers seeking access to state dollars intended for private school vouchers. The choice law, he said, did not include day care providers or stand-alone kindergartens in the voucher program.

The five schools that have yet to receive choice funding are Alex's Academic of Excellence, Grace Preparatory School of Excellence, Sherman Park Preschool, Stepping Stone Learning Center and Zebaoth Learning Center. Giampietro represents Grace, Sherman Park, Stepping Stone and Zebaoth.

The schools were expecting the first of four installment payments from the state at the end of September.

To ensure that none of the schools denied funding would be closed, Partners Advancing Values in Education last week said it would provide $500,000 in "emergency support" to students attending those schools. PAVE is a non-profit group that supports school choice.

Soldner said that he had conversations Wednesday with officials at all of the schools represented by Giampietro and that the schools agreed to submit additional information to him for review. Giampietro said it appeared that the information would satisfy the department and avoid the need for a lawsuit.

The information includes daily schedules, calendars and curriculum summaries so the DPI can verify that the schools meet the 875 hours and subject requirements, Soldner said.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Steven Nass (R-Whitewater) on Wednesday sharply criticized Benson and the DPI for their handling of the choice program.

In a news release, he said that the department has "embarked on a high profile smear campaign of this program because of problems with a small number of private schools" and that the campaign was "politically motivated."

Benson and his department opposed the choice program from the beginning and "have only one goal - ending choice," said Nass, who chairs the Assembly's Education Reform Committee, which oversees the program.

But Benson, in an interview, said there was "absolutely nothing political" about his or the DPI's action on some choice school applicants.

"I am protecting the taxpayers from unwise use of their money. We are being absolutely certain that every program qualifies," Benson said.

"We are doing our job regarding the choice initiative. We have made multiple attempts with every entity, asking them for information we have to have in order to justify sending them a check."