Consider 920 reasons why Milwaukee can rightfully be called -ground zero" when it comes to the school choice issue in the United States.

That is the number of students enrolled in the new Milwaukee Academy of Science, a charter school, the first for-profit school in Wisconsin, created in cooperation with officials of the Medical College of Wisconsin. The school charges no tuition, it will receive more than $6,300 a student in public support.

Consider 400 more reasons why the "ground zero" title fits. That, is how many students have enrolled in the Central City Cyberschool, a charter school opening in a new $7.3 million building in the middle of a low-income housing complex on the north side. It will offer every student a laptop computer and a high-tech curriculum.

Consider an additional 2,000 reasons. That, is how much the state's groundbreaking private-school choice program for low-income Milwaukee families is expected to grow – in terms of students served - in the new school year, going from 8,000 students in 91 schools last year to about 10,000 students in more than 100 schools.

Consider 50 million reasons. That's roughly what will be paid in public money to private schools in the choice program, the majority of them religious schools chosen by low-income parents will receive up to $5,326 a student.

Consider 100 million reasons. That's the price tag attached to the Milwaukee Public Schools neighborhood schools plan, released last week. School system leaders agree it is driven strongly by the need to convince parents that the schools meet the needs and desires of their children and of the parents themselves. If you want to argue that the biggest impact of Milwaukee's private-school choice program is in what it has helped trigger in the public schools, the neighborhood plan is a strong example.

Add 5,000, more reasons when you count how many African American children from Milwaukee will attend suburban public, schools under the state's long-standing voluntary school desegregation program, known as Chapter 220. And hundreds of more reasons in the form of students, mostly white, who will leave, the city to attend suburban schools 'under the state's open enrollment law, a law different from Chapter 220.

Finally, add in thousands of reasons in the form of every MPS student who attends one of the system's specialty schools, most of them created as part of the court-ordered desegregation of the 1970s. They still offer some of the richest selections in American public education - French language immersion, arts specialties, international baccalaureate programs, year-round schedules and more.

It was Education Week, a widely read national trade publication, that applied the "ground zero" term to Milwaukee a year ago. Now, as a new school- year begins - Wednesday is the first day for MPS - there's even more support for the title.

An Unprecedented Time

What sounds like the kind of superlative that is usually wise to avoid seems to be an accurate description of the situation:

Milwaukee parents- especially low-income parents - now have more publicly paid choices for educating their children than parents in any other place in the United States or at any other time in American history.

And, contrary to what some have said, not only are the choice programs free, but they're easy to get into. State law requires choice schools to accept almost all applicants and, in rare cases where applicants exceed openings, to choose who gets in by random selection.

Transportation a problem? Some of the private schools take advantage of a law, available statewide, that requires public schools to pay for busing.

And if you want to open a private school, Wisconsin is one of the least restrictive places in the country, as evidenced by some of the fairly shaky private schools in Milwaukee. Teachers don't need to meet state qualifications; academic programs don't need approval outside of the school.

But if the first half of a line from a famous '60s rock song very much applies to Milwaukee - there's something happening here - so does the second half: What it is ain't exactly clear.

In other words, the verdict is far from known on, what effect all this ferment will have on the quality of education in the city. The grand questions - will all this increase the disturbingly low number of kids who graduate from high school, leave young people better prepared to go out into the world and close the gap that leaves minority students far behind white students - have no better answer now than: We'll have to see. Advocates of school choice are encouraged by research and polling that shows some positive educational gains in voucher systems, but they admit the overall body of research is far from providing a full or compelling picture.

Critics of the choice plan argue that because the private schools are exempt from almost any state scrutiny, the program lacks accountability. It's hard, they say, to claim anything about the success or failure of students. They also argue that the burgeoning private school scene is harming the public schools, particularly their finances.

Howard Fuller, the former Milwaukee school superintendent who has become a national leader of the choice movement, has proposed that both sides negotiate a plan for independently assessing the Milwaukee choice plan's impact. But teachers, union leaders and other opponents have instead pushed for changes in, the state law that would put more controls on the choice schools.

The notion that creating a free market in school options will drive up the overall quality of schools is highly debatable. Nor is it fully agreed that that's even what is happening in Milwaukee. A recent study by the Public Policy Forum, a private group that analyzes local policy issues, said the economic impact on MPS when students switch to schools outside the system isn't strong enough to provide real "market force" incentives to the system.