SB 234

Under the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the state pays all or

a portion of the costs for an eligible pupil who resides within the city of Milwaukee

to attend a participating private school. A pupil is eligible to participate in the MPCP

if, among other requirements, the total family income of the pupil does not exceed

300 percent of the federal poverty level.

2011 Wisconsin Act 32

(the biennial budget

act), created a parental choice program for eligible school districts (program). Under

the program, the state pays all or a portion of the costs for an eligible pupil who

resides within the eligible school district to attend a participating private school. A

pupil is eligible to participate in the program if, among other requirements, the total

family income of the pupil does not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

Current law requires a private school participating in the MPCP or the program

to submit the names, social security numbers, and addresses of the applicant pupil's

parents or legal guardians to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). DPI must

then forward this information to the Department of Revenue (DOR), which must

determine whether the pupil is eligible to participate in the MPCP or the program

on the basis of family income. This bill requires the private school to provide the

names of the parents or legal guardians residing in the same household as the pupil

and whether the parents or legal guardians are married. The bill defines family

income as federal adjusted gross income of the parents or legal guardians residing

in the same household as the pupil for the tax year preceding the school year for

which family income is being verified or, if not available, for the tax year preceding

the tax year preceding the school year for which family income is being verified. The

bill clarifies that DOR does not make a determination about the pupil's eligibility to

participate in the program on the basis of family income, but verifies whether the

pupil is eligible to participate on the basis of family income. If DOR is unable to verify

the pupil's eligibility, DOR must notify DPI, which must utilize an alternative

process to determine whether the pupil is eligible.

Under current law, a private school participating in the MPCP or the program

may only reject an applicant who is eligible to participate in the MPCP or the

program if the school has too few available spaces. This bill provides that a pupil

whose eligibility to participate in the program on the basis of family income has been

verified by the DOR or by DPI but who is rejected because there are too few spaces

may be admitted to a participating private school in the following school year as long

as the pupil continues to reside in the city of Milwaukee or an eligible school district.

The bill also provides that DPI may not require verification in that following school

year of the pupil's eligibility to participate on the basis of family income.

Under current law, a private school located in the city of Milwaukee may

participate in the MPCP if it complies with certain requirements; among the