For more information, contact: Ameillia Wedward
WILL Communications Associate
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Imagine for a moment that your child’s needs are not being met in the public school system... |
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You decide that a private school would be a better fit, and apply for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. You meet the financial requirements and provide the requested legal documentation. But then… you receive notice from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) that your application is at risk of being rejected, because the utility bill used for proof of address only includes one of your two surnames (as is common within the Hispanic tradition).
This is what the application process is like for many families across Wisconsin—the very families this program is designed to serve.
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“DPI does cause a lot of struggles for some of our families,” said Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) Outreach Coordinator Edgar Zaragoza. “They get frustrated. We've had some families that wanted to give up.” Zargoza described how one family had a city discrepancy related to the water bill they submitted to prove their residency. “The city part of the application said the family lives in Green Bay, but their water bill actually comes from Bellevue, so it said Bellevue instead of Green Bay.” The auditor flagged this and said the family was at risk of being removed from the program unless they corrected this “imperfection.”
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Unfortunately, families at Edgar’s school are not alone:
- Around 12 families at Immanuel Lutheran in Wisconsin Rapids had to correct their applications because they had received utility bills that said “Wisc. Rapids” and the city wasn’t spelled out.
- At Impact Christian Schools, a parent completed an application with a shortened name (think “Tom” versus “Thomas”) and was required to take additional steps to prove his identity.
- At Blessed Sacrament, a family submitted a utility bill that said “Milwaukee” instead of “West Allis.” Even though the street address and zip code matched their West Allis address, without submitting additional documentation their three children were at risk of losing their choice seats. They had to submit additional documentation with West Allis listed.
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At Immanuel Lutheran in Brookfield, a family filed an alternative address form because they were currently living with family. The school inadvertently requested the driver's license information for the homeowner instead of the parent. Even though it would be easy for the parent to resubmit her own license, DPI has deemed this “uncorrectable.”
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These easily fixable discrepancies should not disqualify students from participating in the choice program. That is why WILL filed a lawsuit against DPI on behalf of School Choice Wisconsin Action and Catholic Memorial High School of Waukesha alleging that DPI enforces an “application perfection” rule, despite never having gone through the proper rulemaking procedures. That means that not only have the public and state legislature never had a chance to weigh in as legally required, but the outlandish rule was never even made publicly known.
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The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program serves as a beacon of hope for many families. In honor of National School Choice Week, we invite you to donate to help us keep fighting for these low-income families whose children could be denied their chance at life-changing, quality education. Your support gives us the valuable resources needed to tackle these constant bureaucratic overreaches — and they aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
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The work we do would not be possible without the generosity of our donors; we are a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization that receives no public funds. As a non-profit and non-partisan organization, we litigate in the areas of equality under the law, property rights, the freedom to earn a living, voting rights, regulation, taxation, school choice, and religious freedom. As an educational organization, we strive to advance the debate concerning law and public policy in these and other areas. |
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