Following private negotiations regarding Milwaukee's school-choice program cap, key state officials announced a controversial agreement last Friday.

In the agreement that has spurred statewide debate, Gov. Jim Doyle and Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, decided to introduce a bill this week to raise the existing cap of 15,000 by 7,500 students.

While many voucher-program opponents met the compromise agreement with staunch disapproval, advocates of an increased cap applauded the plans.

"The school-choice cap is not just some sort of abstract statistic," said Mark Graul, campaign manager of gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis. "You're talking about capping the hopes and dreams of low-income kids."

Under the school-choice program, eligible students may apply to the voucher program and, if accepted, the public school system pays for the student's entire tuition at a private school.

Though Gard and others have actively pushed to eliminate the cap, many teachers' organizations have opposed the entire voucher program, calling it an unfair system that disadvantages public school students.

According to Kris Collett, communication specialist for the Milwaukee Teachers' Association, the voucher program threatens the public school system by leading to budget cuts that endanger programs like art, music and physical education.

"There's almost nothing in the deal for the majority of kids attending Milwaukee public schools. It's the insistence on the part of a few people to push reforms that have not proven successful," Collett said. "[I]n this case, they put politics before children."

Collett expressed additional concern that the quality of voucher schools has not been tested or held accountable.

"[The agreement is] sort of a classic example of putting the cart before the horse," Collett said. "They expand the program without having any data about whether the program is working."

But according to school-choice advocates, the voucher program is a system to help low-income children receive a quality education.

"The more competition we inject into the education system in Milwaukee, the better the results we're going to have," Graul said, adding that competition leads to higher-quality public schools.

Graul added that Green, if elected governor, will work to eliminate the cap on the school-choice program altogether in order to help students who were forced to switch from private to public schools because "Jim Doyle refused to lift the cap."

Though Doyle has traditionally opposed initiatives increasing the cap, Collett noted a number of voucher advocates have been pressuring the governor through media ads.

"Gov. Doyle has actually been a great friend of public education," Collett said. "As much as we've supported the things that Gov. Doyle has done in the past, we cannot support him in this position."

Doyle, however, pointed to the agreement as a step in the right direction.

"This is a reasonable compromise that ensures there will be greater accountability for taxpayer dollars," Doyle said in a press release.

The compromise includes provisions to increase funding for the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education program, as well as change eligibility requirements and accountability measures.

In order to be eligible for the voucher program, students would no longer be required to have attended a Milwaukee Public School the preceding year. Additionally, families who are currently enrolled but whose incomes exceed the current limit would remain eligible.

The agreement would also require voucher schools to undergo standardized testing to monitor quality and effectiveness.