Requiring teachers and administrators employed by and owners of private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and in the choice program for other eligible school districts to be subject to the background investigation requirements and employment restrictions imposed upon teachers in public schools

or if the licensee is liable for delinquent taxes or is delinquent in making court-ordered payments of child or family support payments.

Under the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), a pupil who resides in the city of Milwaukee may attend a participating private school at state expense if, among other requirements, the pupil is a member of a family that has a total family income that does not exceed 300 percent of the poverty level. The Biennial Budget Act, 2011 Wisconsin Act 32 (the act), created a parental choice program for eligible school districts (program). Under the program, a pupil who resides in an eligible school district may attend a participating private school if, among other requirements, the pupil is a member of a family that has a total family income that does not exceed 300 percent of the poverty level.

This bill requires the state superintendent to ensure that, on an annual basis, teachers in and administrators and owners of private schools participating in the MPCP and in the program are subject to the same background investigations applicable to licensees. The bill requires the state superintendent to charge each private school a fee sufficient to reimburse the Department of Public Instruction for the costs to conduct the investigations required under the bill. The state superintendent may prohibit a private school from participating in the MPCP or in the program in the current school year if the private school has failed to pay the fee charged for the background investigations. The bill prohibits a participating private school from employing a teacher or administrator who would not be eligible for employment in a public school for any of the reasons identified above. The bill also authorizes the state superintendent to immediately terminate a private school's participation in the MPCP or the program if the owner of the private school would not be eligible for employment for any of the reasons identified above.