As a deadlock in the state Capitol over the future of Milwaukee's school voucher system continues, the Milwaukee teachers union is launching a radio advertising campaign that says "the Milwaukee school choice system really isn't much of a choice at all."

Kris Collett, a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, said the union ad will run on at least a half dozen radio stations over the next four weeks.

Three groups of supporters of the voucher program have bought large amounts of radio commercial spots and some television spots in recent weeks in support of lifting "the cap" on the voucher program. The teachers union ad is the first from groups opposed to the voucher program.

The union ad is built around a pretend phone answering machine.

"To divert 95 million of your tax dollars to private enterprise, press 1," the phone operator says. "To risk lowering the value of your home significantly by weakening your public schools, press 2. You chose neither.

"To select sending 15,000 students to private schools with no accountability and questionable performance, press 1. To select larger public school class sizes and fewer funds for their educational materials, press 2. You chose neither."

A narrator then urges listeners to call their legislators.

"Tell them we can't afford to weaken our public schools and decrease home values, that our public schools deserve smaller class sizes and better, safer facilities," he says. "Tell them to either limit the school voucher system or eliminate it. Those are the only choices that make sense."

Collett said the union was planning to spend about $40,000 on its ads. Voucher advocates have not said how much they are spending, but it is believed to be a significantly larger amount than that.

Under current state law, the current total of about 15,000 voucher students in the city is the most permitted and a plan from state officials for how to ration seats for next year could cause major disruptions for schools and students.

Both Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Republican legislative leaders say they want to increase the number of students permitted in the system, but the Republicans want the increase to come with no strings attached and Doyle wants it tied to steps to deal with weak voucher schools and to require vouchers students to take state standardized tests. Both the Milwaukee and state teachers unions have opposed the voucher program since its inception 15 years ago.

The Milwaukee teachers union ad can be heard at the union's Web site: www.mtea.org/vouchers.htm.