Creating an Office of School Standards and Licensure in the city of Milwaukee and requiring all public schools and certain private schools in the city of Milwaukee to obtain a license in order to operate

1. A provisional operating license. A provisional operating license may not be renewed.

2. A permanent operating license. A permanent license may be renewed.

Each operating license issued by the office, including a renewal of a permanent operating license, expires on the third July 1 following the date on which the license was issued.

Provisional operating licenses:

To obtain a provisional operating license, the applicant must submit a timely application and application fee to the office and demonstrate that it satisfies all of the following:

1. It has established a budget development and approval process and a system of fiscal management that meets standards established by the office.

2. It will operate the school in a building that meets the safety standards established by the office by rule.

3. It has developed a curriculum that meets standards of educational success established by the office by rule.

4. It has employees that meet standards of excellence established by the office by rule.

Permanent operating licenses:

To obtain a permanent operating license, the applicant must submit a timely application and application fee to the office and demonstrate that it satisfies all of the following:

1. It holds a valid provisional operating license and continues to satisfy all of the requirements for the provisional operating license.

2. At least 90 percent of the pupils who have attended the school for more than one school year have advanced at least one grade level for every year of enrollment.

3. It has implemented a policy governing the admission to the school of children with disabilities.

4. It enrolls at least the number of children with disabilities at the school as is required under the formula established in the bill. The formula takes into account the number of pupils enrolled in the school in each grade, the number of pupils enrolled in all schools licensed under the bill in each grade, and the number of children with disabilities enrolled in all schools licensed under the bill in each grade.

Duties of office:

The bill requires the office to do all of the following:

1. Make rules governing the implementation of the inspection and licensure program, including standards for budgeting and fiscal management of the school and the educational success of pupils enrolled in the school.

2. Upon receipt of an application for an operating license do all of the following:

a. Notify the state superintendent, the city common council, and the city mayor and make information provided by the applicant available for public inspection.

b. Inspect the school and records maintained by the applicant for the school.

c. Hold a public hearing on the application and provide an opportunity for public testimony.

d. Submit a written decision to the applicant and provide a copy to the state superintendent, common council, and mayor.

3. Revoke, suspend, or deny an applicant's operating license if, after 60 days, the applicant has not corrected a severe or substantial violation of the standards upon which an operating license is issued.

4. Conduct scheduled and unscheduled inspections of each school for which an operating license may be or has been issued.

5. Annually submit a comprehensive written report detailing the policies, operations, revenues, and expenditures of the office and summarizing the licensing decisions of the office to the governor, the appropriate standing committees of the legislature, the state superintendent, the city common council, and the mayor of the city.

Changes to Full-time Open Enrollment Program Under the Open Enrollment Program, a pupil may apply to attend a school in a school district other than the pupil's resident school district. Current law establishes permissible criteria for a nonresident school district to accept or reject applications from nonresident pupils, including the availability of space, classes, and programs in the nonresident district. Current law also permits a nonresident school district to determine whether to accept or reject a nonresident pupil based upon whether the special education and related services needs described in the individualized education program of a nonresident pupil who is a child with a disability are available for the pupil in the nonresident school district and also whether the nonresident pupil has been referred for evaluation but not yet evaluated by an individualized education program team to determine whether the child has a disability.

The bill eliminates the two criteria related to the special educational needs of children with disabilities from the list of permissible criteria for the acceptance or rejection of a nonresident pupil whose resident school district is MPS. The bill also requires MPS to limit the number of its resident pupils attending public school in other school districts under the Open Enrollment Program to the number of resident pupils attending public school in other school districts in the 2009-10 school year.