State officials ordered schools participating in Milwaukee's voucher program to stop enrolling new students through the choice program because it appears to have hit the state-imposed enrollment cap of about 14,750 students.

In a letter sent to all choice schools on Tuesday, the Department of Public Instruction said that private schools are prohibited from accepting choice applications or enrolling students through the program through the remainder of the current school year.

"We absolutely had to say, 'Don't enroll anymore,' because we are very close to the cap," said Tony Evers, the deputy state superintendent.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program lets low-income families send their children to private schools using state-funded tuition vouchers. The cap is set at 15% of the enrollment of Milwaukee Public Schools, or 14,751 students for this school year.

"We deeply regret that this day has arrived and know that it poses real hardships for families and schools," said Susan Mitchell, president of School Choice Wisconsin, in a statement. "We will urge Gov. Doyle to work with the Legislature to resolve this problem."

Evers added that "any solution to the cap issues rests with the governor and the Legislature."

Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, has vetoed bills to raise or eliminate the caps three times, saying at different times that it would prompt property tax increases or needed to be tied to a more comprehensive education package for Milwaukee. He has said he would be willing to increase the number of students who can participate in the program if it includes additional funding for smaller class sizes.

Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) said Tuesday that the state couldn't afford the funding Doyle wanted for smaller class sizes.

Hitting the cap "changes the debate," Gard said. "It puts enormous pressure on the governor. It's a simple thing. It shouldn't come with a bunch of spending strings or pork for Milwaukee."

Doyle was traveling late Tuesday and could not be reached. Spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said the governor stood by his earlier position that raising the cap must be tied to help for public schools.

"He is more than willing to sit down and reach a compromise that will improve the quality of education for all kids in Milwaukee, whether they're in choice schools or public schools," she said.

She also noted that hitting the cap would not affect students already in choice schools.

"The lives of kids who are in the program are not disrupted," she said.

Henry Tyson, the principal of St. Marcus Lutheran School's middle grades, said a couple of families that otherwise would have been admitted midyear through the choice program will probably not be able to attend. He said the school normally takes between five and 15 choice students midyear. "I think it makes the political question more urgent," he added.

Evers speculated that "some schools have families on the waiting list that now they will not be able to enroll."

But he said he also senses that many schools enrolled students last spring and over the summer because they knew this might happen.

"It seemed to me that the schools were being very fastidious to make sure people knew they needed to enroll on time," Evers said.

He added that the state doesn't plan to kick any families out of the choice program. "Once we get to the point where we know an exact number we will have a better idea, but it's our intent that we wouldn't remove people from the program."

Some of the numbers still need to be audited, so the official number of students in the program won't be known for several weeks, Evers said.