SHARE State Sen. Luther Olsen

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Public schools in Wisconsin that receive failing grades on state report cards could be turned into independent charter schools and poor-performing private voucher schools could be barred from accepting new students, under legislation headed for a vote Thursday.

The school accountability proposal is the latest plan making waves in education circles — it could pave the way for up to 100 of the state's lowest-performing public schools to be converted into charter schools not staffed by district personnel.

Teachers unions and school board representatives see the proposals as an affront because control of the low-performing schools could be handed to independent companies.

Officials from Milwaukee Public Schools — where the majority of the state's lowest-performing public schools are located — said the legislation still didn't level the playing field, because failing public schools would be shut down while failing voucher schools would simply be cut off from accepting new students.

"There should be equity when sanctions are issued for taxpayer-funded low-performing schools," MPS spokesman Tony Tagliavia said.

The proposals this week from state Sen. Luther Olsen, a Republican from Ripon who chairs the Senate Education Committee, also outline sanctions for persistently poor-performing charter schools authorized by districts.

The City of Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also would have to revoke the charters of any chronically under-performing schools they authorize.

"It's dramatic," Olsen said.

The proposals would revamp an earlier school accountability bill introduced by Olsen and Rep. Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake) in September. The bill and the latest amendment are scheduled for a vote in the Senate Education Committee meeting Thursday.

Sanctions in the legislation would hinge on another key change: significantly altering the metrics used to issue school report cards.

Starting in 2015-'16, every school that receives taxpayer money would receive an A-F rating based on its performance in the following areas:

■ Achievement on state tests.

■ Achievement growth on state tests, based on a statistical analysis called value-added that estimates the impact schools and teachers have on student progress.

■ The progress in closing achievement gaps between white students and subgroups of students who are poor, of minority races or who have disabilities.

■ Graduation and attendance rate status and improvement.

The current school report card system went into effect two years ago, replacing widely disliked performance measures under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Gov. Scott Walker once pushed for using A through F grades, but a task force on school accountability opted for a five-tiered system placing schools in categories from "significantly exceeds expectations" to "fails to meet expectations."

58 considered failing

The 2012-'13 report cards placed 58 schools statewide into the "fails" category. That included 49 in MPS — one is closed, so now there are 48 — two independent charter schools authorized by the City of Milwaukee, four public schools in Racine and three public schools in Green Bay.

Under the changes Olsen wants, the Department of Public Instruction would have to issue a grade of F to at least 5% of the state's schools. Wisconsin has about 2,100 public schools, so that would be about 100 schools annually.

School boards with public schools that receive F's for three consecutive years or F's and D's for a total of five years and that do not show high value-added growth would have to contract with a charter-management organization.

In Milwaukee Public Schools, the legislation calls for the charter operator to contract directly with the superintendent, instead of the School Board.

MPS also would have only one year before the sanctions kick in; all other districts would get a three-year grace period.

School boards also would be forced to terminate contracts with any district-authorized charter schools that receive F's for three consecutive years or F's and D's for five years, if they also couldn't show high value-added growth.

If that charter school tries to reopen as a private school, it would be barred from receiving taxpayer funding through any of the state's voucher programs.

Voucher sanctions

The DPI could bar any private school from enrolling new students on taxpayer-funded vouchers if it met the same definition for persistent low performance, coupled with a lack of student growth from year-to-year.

Bob Peterson, head of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association union, said the bill disempowers the School Board and is unfair and undemocratic.

"It seems vindictive toward Milwaukee," he said. "I think the Republican agenda is about centralized power and not increased democratic participation."

MPS has struggled for years to reform its chronically underperforming programs, which almost universally serve children who are poor and of color.

A Milwaukee School Board committee last week dropped a similar proposal to turn some of the district's lowest-performing schools into independent charter schools, after teachers protested. The full board will likely discuss that proposal Thursday.

A spokesman for Walker said Tuesday that the governor believes any school receiving public funds should be held accountable.

"He would like to see a bill on his desk that he could sign by the end of his term," Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said.

School Choice Wisconsin President Jim Bender avoided a Madison reporter's request for reaction Tuesday.

"It's too fluid right now," Bender said.

Cause and effect

Dan Rossmiller, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, noted the proposal could have unintended consequences.

For example, the lowest-performing schools in Wisconsin are many of the comprehensive high schools in MPS.

Many of the best-known charter management organizations statewide and nationally run elementary and middle schools, which are less expensive to operate.

"My question is, are there enough charter management organizations willing and able to take on that many high schools?" Rossmiller asked. "Are we trading one set of circumstances for another that is untested and unproven, and throwing out school board governance across the state in the bargain?"

Like traditional public schools and even private voucher schools, performance among charter schools nationwide is mixed.

A respected study five years ago found that 17% of charter schools nationwide did significantly better academically than their traditional public school counterparts, while 37% did worse and 46% demonstrated little difference academically.

As a school sector in Milwaukee, students in independent charter schools outscore students in MPS.

Leaders from both sides often disagree about whether that's due more to student demographics, or school governance and instruction.

Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Madison.