The state Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would lift the enrollment cap on Milwaukee's school voucher program for one year.

More than 2,000 parents, teachers and students who support school choice rallied on the Capitol steps Tuesday in Madison. The Senate backed a bill that would lift the enrollment cap on the voucher program for one year.

The bill, which passed the Assembly last month, now heads to Gov. Jim Doyle, who is expected to veto it unless a compromise is reached on some of his education priorities.

Before the Senate vote, thousands of school choice supporters - including parents, teachers and students at several schools - rallied inside and outside the state Capitol. They called on Doyle to support lifting the cap.

"You are the future of the city, and you must let Governor Doyle hear you," said Howard Fuller, a former superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools and an advocate for choice. "Go back to school . . . and keep fighting to lift the cap."

The bill, which raises the cap by 1,500 students for one year, passed the Senate on close to a party line vote, with most Republicans supporting the measure and most Democrats opposed.

The state's distinctive school voucher program permits about 15,000 low-income Milwaukee families to send their children to private schools using state funds for tuition. The program is rubbing up against its cap of 15% of Milwaukee Public Schools enrollment.

During discussion in the Senate, both sides accused the other of using students as pawns for political ends.

"Don't hold the children hostage for the crimes adults committed," said Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), one of the sponsors of the bill.

Several schools in the program said they could lose dozens of seats and would have to turn away current students if the enrollment cap is changed.

But Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) accused Republicans of focusing on a "wedge issue that pits poor people in the city of Milwaukee against other poor people."

Last month, Doyle and Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) failed to reach a compromise on the cap issue. At the time, Gard said the "price tag" Doyle wanted was "unreachable."

A Doyle spokesman said the governor had proposed tweaking the school aid formula to "hold Milwaukee harmless" for any students who left the public schools to attend voucher schools as a result of the one-year reprieve from the cap.

After the Senate vote, Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa), one of the sponsors of the bill, said the Legislature "must avoid this imminent collision of public policy and politics that puts schoolchildren in harm's way. We can work out a long-term solution, but we cannot place the entire burden on the backs of a thousand of Milwaukee's poorest children."

Doyle's budget, officially released on Tuesday evening, did not address the issue of school choice. A spokeswoman for him said Tuesday afternoon that he stands by his belief that any change to the cap should be part of a broader package that would benefit all schoolchildren in Milwaukee.

In light of all the politicking surrounding the issue, the Department of Public Instruction, which oversees the voucher program, has said it will not implement a rationing system for the program yet.

"We have decided as long as there is legislative dialogue about this and a potential for a long-term solution, it would be important to delay implementing any rationing system," Tony Evers, the deputy state superintendent, said last week.

Choice advocates bused thousands of supporters to the rally. Students carried signs reading: "Don't tread on me" and "No choice means no future."

Ayad Sarsour, a sixth-grader from Salam School who participated in the rally, said she "likes the teachers" at Salam, who "inspire us to do things that sometimes we think that we will never be able to do." Salam is in the voucher program.

A group of parents, teachers and students stood outside Doyle's office, requesting a meeting. But Doyle spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said the governor's schedule was "booked solid" because of the budget.

Alan J. Borsuk of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.