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Priority Legislative Alert -SB 2 (Open Enrollment)
By John Forester(Don't Use) | May 6, 2011
Please contact your State Assembly Representative as soon as possible. Urge him/her to support Senate Bill 2 as amended by the Assembly Education Committee.
Proponents of unlimited year-round Open Enrollment are working hard to undo a victory the SAA won in the Assembly Education Committee. We need your help to counter the attack. Republicans control the Assembly by a wide margin. The Assembly Republicans will debate this bill in caucus on Tuesday May 10th.
Background Information
Under the bill as passed by the Senate:
- The open enrollment window was expanded from three weeks to three months
- Created an alternate open enrollment process allowing a parent to open enroll their child at any time if the pupil satisfies one of seven special criteria in the bill
- The SAA’s primary opposition to the bill was the last of these seven criteria: “The parent of the pupil and the nonresident school board agree that attending school in the nonresident school district is in the best interests of the pupil.”
As you know, in addition to essentially creating year-round Open Enrollment, this provision would also provide “difficult” students and parents with one more weapon to manipulate school districts into making decisions favorable to the student.
At the suggestion of the SAA, the Assembly Education Committee amended the 7th criterion as follows:
“The parent of the pupil, the resident school board, and the nonresident school board agree that attending school in the … pupil.”
Proponents of the unlimited Open Enrollment want to undo this compromise. They want to allow unlimited Open Enrollment at any time.
If they succeed, they:
- Will deny resident school districts a voice in these Open Enrollment decisions
- Could place the resident district in financial difficulty at the hands of parties with no responsibility for the needs of children who remain in the resident school district
- Will encourage virtual charter schools to promote themselves year-round, essentially making the 3-month Open Enrollment window a sham
Please email or call your State Assembly Representative as soon as possible using the information discussed above. Assembly contact information (Assembly Directory) can be found on the left side of our website in the Elected Officials section. You can identify who your Assembly Representative is by accessing Who Are My Legislators.
I’ve done all I can inside the Capitol on this legislation. I need you to contact your Assembly Representatives, especially those of you with Republican Representatives. I’m not exaggerating when I say, your response will determine the SAA’s success on this bill.
Thanks for listening. And, as always, thank you for all you do on behalf of Wisconsin school children.
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