The decisions by two longtime private-school operators not to open this fall in Milwaukee underscore how the precedent-setting private school voucher program is being reshaped.

The Journal Sentinel and others had raised questions about the quality of the schools. Neither of the schools' operators - Amit Ray and Linda Meadors - had given any indication that their schools were ready to meet a new requirement that all schools with voucher students be accredited. Ray operated the Milwaukee Multicultural Academy and the Milwaukee School of Choice, and Meadors ran Grace Christian Academy.

The message underlying the new developments, and other changes in the voucher program? It's not as easy to run a weak publicly funded school in Milwaukee now as it was a couple of years ago.

Asked about the impact of changes in voucher school regulation, Robert Soldner, director of school management services for the state Department of Public Instruction, said, "It's definitely working. . . . We're showing marked improvements in school operations."

After state law was changed to tighten financial and business rules for voucher schools, regulators were able to close several problem schools in the 2003-'04 and 2004-'05 school years. Another half-dozen schools were closed during the 2005-'06 year.

In February, Gov. Jim Doyle and Republican legislative leaders agreed on a deal to let the voucher program grow, provided schools get accredited. It appears that is going to force - or at least encourage - a few more schools to drop out and keep others from opening.

The initial impact of increasing the cap on the voucher program won't be known until enrollment figures are tabulated in a few weeks. The new law allows the program to grow from fewer than 15,000 students to 22,500.

Soldner forecasts this year's total will be about 17,000. If he is right, the cost of the voucher program will pass $100 million, a little less than a tenth of the budget of the Milwaukee Public Schools system. Under the program, private schools - more than two-thirds of them religious - receive up to $6,500 for each qualifying student.

But making it harder for a weak school to open and operate - a goal that key leaders of the voucher movement have supported - means the number of operating voucher schools this year may end up being fewer than a year ago when some shaking out is done.

There were 126 voucher schools on the DPI's list as of Aug. 30, and at least one has closed since then. On the comparable list in August 2005, there were 125 schools, although several of those didn't get off the ground.

In February, there were 162 applications to be included in the voucher program this year, more than 40 of them from operators who would have been new to the program.

But there were only 11 new schools on the Aug. 30 list, a sign of the challenges putting the brakes on the plans of many people who wanted to open schools. Those challenges include finding a building, teachers and students, as well as meeting increased demands that a school have its act together in financial management and other areas.

Just ahead of this school year, Ray, who operated two voucher schools and previously did accounting for several others, told DPI officials he was leaving the school business. His Milwaukee Multicultural Academy, which opened in 1998, and Milwaukee School of Choice, which opened in 2000, together had 119 students last September and 174 the year before.

Ray's business dealings were the subject of a story that was part of a series about voucher schools in the Journal Sentinel in June 2005, and a story in the newspaper last spring examined questions about the quality of the Milwaukee School of Choice. Partners Advancing Values in Education, a private organization that previously provided scholarship help to some students at Ray's schools, said last spring that it would no longer support those schools.

In a letter the DPI received Sept. 11, Meadors said her 4-year-old Grace Christian Academy would not operate this year.

In its series on voucher schools, the newspaper listed Grace Christian as a school where a visit by a reporter left serious questions about academic quality. The school reported 56 students last fall and 57 the year before.

Neither Ray nor Meadors could be reached for comment.

Voucher schools that operated before this year have until Sept. 30 to get started formally on the process of accreditation in which a private oversight organization provides, in effect, a seal of approval for a school's program.

Schools that opened this fall have until Dec. 31 to be accepted into accreditation programs.