Special Needs Scholarship Program

The voucher program is open to students with a disability residing in Wisconsin between the ages of 4 and 21. To participate, a student with a disability must have an Individualized Education Program or services plan currently in effect. In addition, on September 1 of the school year, a student must be 4 years old to enroll in K–4, 5 years old to enroll in K–5, or 6 years old to enroll in first grade. Annual residency documentation is required to be submitted. Students who would like to continue participating in the program and transfer to another participating school are required to complete a transfer request. A student who has been accepted into the program will continue to receive a scholarship until the student graduates from high school; the student turns 21; the student no longer resides in Wisconsin; the student is not made available for a reevaluation every three years; or a student that has been determined to no longer have a disability leaves the participating private school that the student is attending. Students who no longer have a disability may continue attending the same school with a smaller scholarship. A student that is eligible for multiple Wisconsin Choice Programs, including the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, and the Special Needs Scholarship Program, can only receive funding from one program. Although a parent may submit an application to multiple programs, the parent should provide the school with a written statement indicating participation in one program. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_

Qualifying expenses include tuition and fees. Students must attend a school registered to participate in the program. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provides a list of participating schools, along with each school’s Special Education Profile describing methods of instruction and qualifications. Participating schools are not required to provide transportation. School districts and participating schools may enter agreements with parents to provide transportation or reimburse parents for the costs in part. Policy is determined at the local level and parents are advised to confirm with their resident and selected schools on transportation policies. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_

The Wisconsin legislature appropriated $45,143,200 for 2022–2023, meaning roughly 3,000 students will be able to participate, or less than 1% of Wisconsin’s K–12 student population. Each school year, maximum scholarship payments, which are indexed to the revenue ceiling, increase as general school aid to Wisconsin public schools increases. Even though scholarships are paid by appropriation and not from the funding formula, the equivalent funding for the scholarship awards is also withheld from the funding distributed to districts where scholarship students reside. This deduction may occur because the scholarship students are counted as members of their resident district for purposes of state aid. Any qualifying Wisconsin K–12 student that wishes to participate may receive funding. Students in grades 1–12 may receive a full scholarship or a higher actual cost payment scholarship award. Full scholarship started at $12,000 in the 2016–2017 school year and are adjusted annually based on funding for public school students. The estimated amount for 2024–2025 is $15,065. Additionally, schools have the option to receive payment for a pupil based on the school’s actual cost to provide special education for previous school year. The actual cost scholarship amount will be the amount of the Statement of Actual Cost up to 150% of the full scholarship amount plus 90% of the amount on the Statement of Actual Cost over 150% of the full scholarship. Students in a 5-year-old kindergarten get variable scholarship amounts dependent upon the number of attendance days. Pupils in a 4-year-old kindergarten receive 50% or 60% of a scholarship, depending on the type of program. Students requesting to remain in the program after no longer qualifying as a child with a disability may qualify for a partial scholarship. Schools are additionally eligible to receive payments for summer school instruction. Courses funded through Federal Title programs are not eligible for payment through the program. The per-student scholarship amount for each eligible student that attends the summer school program 15 or more days is 5% of the full scholarship amount from the prior year for the student. For students attending less than 15 days, the amount is prorated based upon the number of days attended. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_

No legal challenge is currently pending. On October 12, 2023, a lawsuit funded by the Minocqua Brewing Company SUPERPAC was filed by a group of parents, public officials, and other plaintiffs in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The petition for original action argues the Independent Charter School Program, Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, statewide Parental Choice Program, and Special Needs Scholarship Program are all unconstitutional and asks the Court to halt the programs for the 2024-25 school year. The success of the programs, coupled with a change in the state’s funding formula in 2015, appear to have prompted this action. Plaintiffs allege the programs violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s Uniform Taxation Clause [Art. VIII, Sec. 1], the annual school tax requirement [Art. X, Sec. 4], and the superintendent supervision clause [Art. X, Sec. 1]. Plaintiffs state that superintendents are not provided with sufficient control over participating private schools, arguing the Wisconsin Constitution requires superintendents to “supervise the instruction paid for by the public that is occurring at these private schools.” Plaintiffs also allege the choice programs violate Wisconsin’s public purpose doctrine because there is less oversight and regulation of participating schools compared to public schools, thus the “private school programs serve no public purpose.” They further claim the programs lack a public purpose because they are “affirmatively designed to undermine Wisconsin’s public education system by robbing it blind and forcing local districts into financial death spirals.” _Julie Underwood v. Robin Vos_ , 2023AP001896. _(Last updated July 15, 2024)_