By Patrick Lynn

The state school superintendent has said his department will “hustle” get the school voucher expansion in place by the start of the coming school year.

Tony Evers told the Wisconsin Radio Network last week the program will create confusion and a great deal of additional paperwork for schools that have never dealt with the school choice program. Within the next two months, schools wanting to participate in the program need to apply; and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will need to review those applications to decide which schools will be included in the program.

Schools will have to submit a variety of documents to the DPI, as well as a $900 application fee by July 26. Accepted schools will be notified by July 31, at which point families must apply for school choice by August 9.

Evers has been vocal about his opposition to the program, saying Wisconsin students are “caught in an ideologically-driven expansion of school vouchers that is financially reckless, and academically unproven.”

The voucher program became a part of the 2013-15 budget when Governor Scott Walker signed the bill into law June 30. The program is geared towards helping offset tuition for students in failing public schools who wish to enter a private school setting.  According to the Wisconsin Council for Religious and Independent Schools, 130-150 private schools are looking to join the program.

The program is already being used in Milwaukee and Racine, but the new budget expands the program to 25 Wisconsin districts with the most qualified school applicants.

The program is capped at 500 students in the first year and 1,000 in the second year of the budget.

To be eligible for the school choice program, families also much meet income guidelines of 185% of the federal poverty limit, or no more than $43,752 for a family of four.

Governor Walker said Friday he will keep a close eye on the program to ensure it’s working. Success rates, he said, will be measures by test scores and graduation rates, and he expects results.

“Now you’ve got to prove it,” he said.