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Call Gov. Doyle to Lift the Enrollment Cap. 1-608-266-1212
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Limit School Choice. Limit Milwaukee.
 

Soon, a mandatory enrollment cap will limit the number of students who can enroll in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). The cap will deny educational choice to thousands of low-income families in Milwaukee.

Only Governor Doyle stands in the way. He twice has vetoed bills that would lift the cap.

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The cap will limit enrollment in the MPCP to 15 percent of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) enrollment. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) estimates the cap will be set at about 14,800 students. DPI believes the MPCP will reach the cap in the 2005-2006 school year.

When that happens, the law calls for DPI to ration seats among the schools that participate in the MPCP. Any proposal to ration seats will hurt families and the private schools in the program. No rationing plan will work. For example:

  • If seats are allocated equally among all schools, several thousand children will lose seats in the school their parents chose.
  • If each participating school keeps its current number of seats, no school will be able to expand the number of students it serves. Similarly, new schools would not receive seats.
  • Conversely, if new schools are permitted to join the program, seats for those schools will be taken from participating schools.
  • Under a plan DPI has proposed thousands of families trying to enter the choice program would be required to enter a lottery. They might not know until June if they could enroll at the school of their choice.

Under the DPI plan, rationing also could hurt MPS. Thousand of parents might enroll their children in MPS schools, only to place their children in MPCP schools if MPCP seats become available in June. This will complicate budget planning and hiring at MPS schools.

Your opinion matters! Join us in asking Governor Doyle to lift the enrollment cap and provide educational opportunities for all Milwaukee families. Click here to e-mail the Governor, or call 1-608-266-1212 and tell him to lift the cap because when he limits enrollment, he limits our children, our city and its future.

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