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A contentious proposal to expand independent charter schools in Wisconsin worries public-school advocates because it would further reduce aid to traditional districts and open the door for more private companies to run public schools.

But advocates of the bill, in a vigorous debate in Madison on Thursday, argued that's largely the point — that it would offer more public-school options to families, as well as bring Wisconsin's charter-school law in line with other states.

There are hints that such a change is too controversial to pass the Senate, primarily because of the financial effect it could have on school districts statewide. But that didn't stop a robust, seven-hour debate about Assembly Bill 549 in the Assembly's Committee on Urban Education — much of which revolved around differing ideologies about how to provide quality options for all in public education.

Rep. Mandy Wright, a Democrat from Wausau who was a full-time teacher before taking office, said she worried the bill is "a back-door avenue to privatizing education."

Wright said the "fundamental rub" of the bill is that in funding more independent charter schools, public districts take a financial hit.

"I don't want to put shackles on you in any way," she told a teacher from Sheboygan who wants to operate an independent charter school. "But this will detract from kids around the state in public schools. To me, this bill is: I get mine, and too bad for all of you."

But Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield), one of the authors of the bill, took a different tack, saying "the public in public education" was the group calling for change in the system.

"What we have before us is a bill for people who are struggling," Kooyenga said. "They want something else beyond the status quo."

The bill would eliminate district-staffed charter schools and empower a new slate of independent charter authorizers: all four-year and two-year University of Wisconsin System institutions, as well as all the state's regional educational service agencies and technical college district boards.

Added flexibility

Charter schools are public schools that get some flexibility from traditional rules in exchange for meeting performance goals outlined in a contract with their authorizer.

They are not the same as voucher schools, which are all private and predominantly religious schools.

Most of the 243 charter schools in the state are authorized to operate through a contract with their local school district.

But in the Milwaukee area and Racine, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the City of Milwaukee and UW-Parkside authorize charter schools.

Those independent charters, often run by nonprofit companies, do not employ district staff. And because they don't answer to districts, they have even more freedom over their budgeting, operations and curriculum.

But to pay for the $64 million it costs to fund the 8,100 students currently attending independent charters in Milwaukee and Racine, the state takes about 1.5% off every school district's equalization aid. That covers the approximate $8,000 each independent charter receives annually for each student.

"This (bill) will result in a growing aid reduction to current schools," John Forester, lobbyist for the School Administrators Alliance, said at the hearing.

He added the bill might also result in increased property taxes for some districts, especially ones that had declining enrollment.

Jennifer Kammerud, lobbyist for the Department of Public Instruction, clarified that independent charters get less money per pupil than what is spent on the average public school student, if you combine the state aid and property tax behind each pupil. However, she was concerned that if passed, the bill would allow for more than 40 new charter-school authorizers, which could create "vast new networks of schools" across the state.

"What does this do to the concept of locally elected officials overseeing schools in their districts?" she asked.

More autonomy

Todd Ziebarth of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said the bill could lead to more quality charter-school options in public education.

"Wisconsin is one of only six states that has failed to make significant improvements in its charter-school law," he told the committee.

Ember Reichgott Junge, a former Minnesota state senator who helped pass legislation in 1991 to allow the country's first charter-school law in Minnesota, said more authorizers would lead to a more robust charter-school sector.

She said the Wisconsin bill offered charter schools more autonomy.

"You can't call a charter school a charter school unless they can hire and fire their own staff and select their own curriculum," she said. "They can't be held accountable for their results if they have to turn those functions over to the district."

Seven hours into the hearing, Pat Deklotz, the superintendent of the Kettle Moraine School District, testified against the bill. She said she wasn't against more choices for students, but couldn't understand why lawmakers were trying to change a system that was already working.

She said her district's charter schools are accountable, autonomous and producing high-achieving students.

"The real responsibility my district has committed to is meeting student needs in a conservative way," she continued. "We'd like to do that without having to worry about what legislation is going to slap us upside the head next."