Sincerely,
Douglas La Follette
Secretary of State
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Governor's Veto Message
November 26, 2003
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 126 in its entirety. This bill directs the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a longitudinal study of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.
While I share the desire to evaluate the Choice program in a meaningful way, I am vetoing this bill because it fails to require all Choice schools and students to participate in the study. Without such a requirement, the Legislative Audit Bureau will be unable to create truly representative samples of students participating in the program. A sample bias will be created as successful Choice schools continue to participate in the study, while unsuccessful and failing Choice schools withdraw from participation. Such a flaw is contrary to basic research methods, will likely skew results, and will hinder the usefulness of the study.
Further, the sample bias created under this bill may, in fact, create a false sense of accountability for Choice schools. While there are many exemplary schools with demonstrable results participating in the Choice program, there are other schools that are truly unaccountable to the parents and taxpayers who support them. To achieve true academic accountability, all Choice schools and students would need to participate throughout the length of the study.
Finally, I am concerned that long-term funding of Legislative Audit Bureau positions from private sources, particularly if those funds are provided by organizations that formally support or oppose the Choice program, creates a conflict of interest. Not only will this potentially compromise the study's objectivity, it could negatively impact the deeply held respect that the Bureau has earned over many years.
In conclusion, while I support the Legislature's efforts to work toward a meaningful evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, this bill falls short of that goal. I encourage the Legislature to continue to work toward true accountability on behalf of the children and parents who utilize the voucher program, and the taxpayers who subsidize it.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle
Governor
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November 26, 2003
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 259 in its entirety. This bill allows a student to continue in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program regardless of family income. It also deletes the cap on the number of students who may participate in the program and eliminates the prior year attendance requirements.
I am vetoing this bill because it significantly expands the program beyond its original intent, it has significant financial implications to both Milwaukee Public Schools and the state, and it could jeopardize the quality of the program. By removing the cap on family income, the program would no longer be targeted solely at low-income Milwaukee families. For example, a family whose income may be temporarily below the 175 percent of poverty threshold while one or both parents attend medical school would be forever eligible to have taxpayer paid tuition even if its income increases to several times the state average.
Completely repealing the Choice program enrollment cap, which is currently set at 15 percent of Milwaukee Public Schools enrollment, has both long-term cost and quality implications. Every additional 1,000 students who would attend choice schools due to a repeal of the cap would cost Milwaukee taxpayers an additional $2.7 million and state taxpayers another $3.3 million. In addition, the problems with the quality of education in a few Choice schools, due in part to the Legislature's reluctance to enact any meaningful measures to hold these largely taxpayer supported schools accountable for the quality of the services they provide, will no doubt be exacerbated if enrollment limits were completely removed.
Lastly, repealing the prior year attendance requirements would begin to shift the program away from its intent to provide an alternative to Milwaukee Public Schools and more towards creating a system of taxpayer supported sectarian and nonsectarian private schools. In times of limited state resources and the importance of strong public schools to the economic future of the state, the focus of state resources should be on strengthening public schools throughout the state. While private school choice has provided an alternative to address the unique circumstances and problems facing education in Milwaukee, it should remain the exception rather than the rule.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle
Governor
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November 26, 2003
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 260 in its entirety. This bill allows any private school located in Milwaukee County to participate in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Current law limits schools participating in the program to those located in the City of Milwaukee.
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I am vetoing this bill because it clearly expands the Choice Program well beyond its original parameters. When the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program was created, the intent was to establish a program within the City of Milwaukee for City of Milwaukee students. By allowing schools located outside the city to participate, even if enrollment remains limited to Milwaukee residents, the program would begin to lose its focus of providing viable educational alternatives for Milwaukee school children within the City of Milwaukee.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle
Governor
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November 26, 2003
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 261 in its entirety. This bill allows any student in the state to attend a charter school created under section 118.40 (2)(r), Wisconsin Statutes (the Milwaukee charter school program). The bill also includes language providing the board of school directors for Milwaukee public schools the same authority as other school boards to transport kids to non-public schools and expands that authority for all school districts to include charter schools.
I am vetoing this bill because I object to the expansion of enrollment in the Milwaukee charter school program to include pupils residing outside of the Milwaukee Public Schools District. The original and still valid intent of this program was to allow the City of Milwaukee, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Area Technical College to create charter schools in order to provide educational options for students residing in the Milwaukee Public Schools attendance area. Expanding this program to include students who do not reside in the City of Milwaukee does not serve the interests of Milwaukee students and may, in fact, create incentives for these charter schools to focus their efforts on attracting non-Milwaukee residents, rather than improving educational programs for Milwaukee children.
Furthermore, since the Milwaukee charter school program is funded by reallocating general school aids from the state's 426 school districts, a greatly expanded charter school program will reduce state resources available to all public school districts at the expense of increased property taxes.
Finally, modifications to charter school law should not be considered in isolation, but as a part of a comprehensive reform effort that benefits all of Milwaukee's school children.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle
Governor
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November 26, 2003
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 472 in its entirety. This bill allows a student to continue in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program so long as the family income of the student is below 220 percent of the federal poverty level. Under current law, the family's income must be under 175 percent of the federal poverty level for the pupil to remain in the program.
Providing reasonable flexibility to families with children already in the Choice program has merit. However, I am vetoing this legislation because I object to increasing state expenditures for the Choice program in isolation. Flexibility for the Choice program must be considered as a part of a larger educational reform initiative that addresses the educational needs of all of the children in the City of Milwaukee, including the vast majority of children who will remain in the public school system.
In addition, before any increases in funding for the Choice program are considered, Wisconsin taxpayers must be assured that Choice schools accepting public dollars meet reasonable accountability standards. It is not satisfactory that most schools in the Choice program are providing a high quality education. All must.
I applaud the genuine efforts of the legislators who developed this bill. However, I cannot sign this legislation into law until there is agreement on comprehensive reform that benefits all of Milwaukee's school children.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle
Governor
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November 26, 2003
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 503 in its entirety. This bill increases the enrollment limit for the charter school established by the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 400 to 480 students beginning in the 2004-05 school year.
I am vetoing this bill because the current limit of 400 students provides adequate room for the school to grow this biennium. Current enrollment estimates indicate that 300 to 310 students will be attending the charter school in 2003-04.
Further, I am vetoing this bill because modifications to charter school law should be considered as part of a larger reform effort that benefits public school children.
Increasing the enrollment limit at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside charter school may have merit. However, at a time when the cap is not interfering with enrollment, and there is no agreement on comprehensive reform that addresses the needs of public school children, I cannot sign this bill into law.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle
Governor
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Reference Bureau Corrections
Assembly Bill 514
1. Page 64, line 21: delete "medication" and substitute "mediation".
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Assembly Bill 655
1. Page 21, line 18: delete "a such" and substitute "such a".
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Speaker's Communications
December 1, 2003
Representative Michael Powers
310 North, State Capitol
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, Wisconsin 53707
Senator Michael Ellis
118 South, State Capitol
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7882
Dear Representative Powers and Senator Ellis:
Pursuant to Assembly Rule
42 (1)(am) I am directing that the Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions prepare a report on
Assembly Bill 684, so that the legislature may proceed with further consideration of the bill.
Sincerely,
John G. Gard
Speaker
Wisconsin Assembly
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Communications
