For more information: For
immediate release
Anneliese M. Dickman, J.D.
Senior Researcher
414-276-8240
adickman@publicpolicyforum.org
New schools
put pressure on voucher enrollment cap
Schools less than five years old account for
almost half of enrollment increases
“Forty percent of the program’s overall growth since 1999-2000 is due to the 29 start-up schools that opened in 2000 or later,” says Anneliese Dickman, the Forum’s senior researcher.
She says enrollment growth in just 14 schools – including five new schools – accounts for the 1,647 student increase in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program this year. Most of the other nine schools have been among the top ten in enrollment increases during the last two years. As a result, less than 10% of the 121 participating schools are fueling growth in the voucher program.
“The implication of this is that when the cap is lifted more new schools can be anticipated, while enrollment becomes more concentrated in some schools,” she says.
“Lifting the cap would benefit fast-growing, secular schools.”
Since the 1999-2000 school year,
the voucher program has grown 90%, from 7,576 to 14,427 full-time
students. Currently, the voucher cap is
set at 15% of enrollment in
The study also covers voucher schools’ racial makeups, administrator changes, administration of standardized tests, school openings and closures, and enrollments by grade level.
Directories of schools
participating in the choice program are available free-of-charge at city of
Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum
– which was established in 1913 as a local government watchdog – is a
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of
government and the development of southeastern
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