Thousands of students in Milwaukee's private schools would face changing schools for the next school year, and some schools would face major financial crises if rationing of school voucher seats comes to pass, based on numbers released Monday by the state Department of Public Instruction.

The odds of that happening are small now that an agreement on the future of the voucher program has been reached between Gov. Jim Doyle and state Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo). The issue now goes to the Legislature.

But the rationing plan remains in effect until the Legislature approves the deal- which might not come easily - which is why 162 current and prospective new schools in the voucher program were given their individual allotments of seats.

In announcing their agreement Friday, Doyle and Gard both said it was important to stop the disruption in school life that would come from the rationing plan, and they were treating the release of the numbers, which was required by Monday, as a deadline for reaching a compromise.

Indeed, the numbers bore out their concerns and the claims of voucher advocates in recent weeks: Dozens of schools were told they would be allotted fewer voucher seats for the next school year than they had in September - a total of more than 4,000 spots.

A much smaller number of schools were told they would be given more seats, increases totaling less than 1,000, and 40 people or organizations that want to join the voucher program for 2006-'07 were assigned more than 2,000 seats.

Prominent schools hit hardest

Some of the most prominent or most reputable private schools in the city would be among those hit the hardest by the rationing plan. Some examples: Messmer Catholic Schools would go from 761 voucher students this year to 470 next year, Holy Redeemer Christian Academy from 307 to 148, St. Marcus Lutheran School from 223 to 134, St. Anthony Catholic School from 795 to 609, Pius XI High School from 217 to 141, and Believers in Christ Academy from 219 to 130.

The school where Doyle and Gard announced their agreement, CEO Leadership Academy, would go from 123 students to 71.

"This demonstrates exactly why the compromise reached last week was so critical," said Dan Leistikow, spokesman for Doyle. "The governor hopes this will encourage members of the Legislature to take quick action."

Gard said: "We reached an agreement in the nick of time. The schools would be devastated if we didn't pass the bill. You would see a number of schools close."

The agreement calls for increasing the legal cap on the voucher program from less than 15,000 - the current enrollment - to more than 22,000, and for voucher schools to take steps aimed at improving or assuring quality. It also calls for funding for the statewide SAGE class-size reduction program to be increased by $12.5 million a year, beginning in 2008-'09.

Crunching the numbers

DPI officials said the formula they used in coming up with the rationing numbers closely matches the language in state law. But because a key to the formula is how many students schools said on Feb. 1 that they had the capacity to accept and because many schools made high estimates of their capacity, the impact of the formula varied widely. In a nutshell, the more conservative or realistic a school's estimate, the more it was likely to lose seats from this school year to next.

DPI officials said a formula they proposed a year ago would have had much milder impact on schools, but it was rejected by Republicans who control the Legislature.

The department said schools reported that they had the capacity to enroll 30,833 voucher students next year. The existing cap on the program would be 14,532, which is 47% of the higher number. So every school was told it could accept 47% of the number of students it said it could accept.

In the case of Messmer, which said it had the capacity to accept 997 voucher students in its kindergarten through high school grades next year, the total was 470, which is 291 below this year's enrollment.

At the same time, The Children of Promise, a school that doesn't exist now but whose administrator claimed a capacity for 720 voucher students in the fall, was allotted 339 seats. Little is known about the school; the telephone number included on the application to DPI did not work Monday.

Less than half of the 40 new applicants to become voucher schools are expected to be actually part of the program in the fall.

Susan Mitchell, vice chair of the Alliance for Choices in Education, said: "DPI had no choice but to inform the schools what they need to do under current law. We need to avert the train wreck and get the compromise passed."

Swift action urged

Gard said he hoped the Legislature would act quickly, and Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa), chairwoman of the Assembly's School Reform Committee, said she was aiming to hold a hearing Wednesday on legislation, even though the language of the proposed law had not been finished Monday afternoon.

But some Democrats have indicated they will not support the action because it does not include property tax help for Milwaukee residents and because of their continuing opposition to the voucher program. Also, some Republicans might balk at the proposal because they oppose the increased funding for SAGE. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and teachers union leaders have strongly criticized the agreement, for differing reasons.

The voucher program allows low-income students to attend private schools, including religious schools, in Milwaukee with up to $6,351 of public money paying for each student's schooling this year. Overall, the state is expected to pay more than $90 million for vouchers this year.

The above appeared in the February 21, 2026 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel