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WISCONSIN LEGISLATIVE AUDIT BUREAU
AUDIT SUMMARY
Report 02-15
August 2002
OPEN ENROLLMENT PROGRAM
Under the full-time interdistrict open enrollment program, Wisconsin students may
apply to attend school in any K-12 public school district in the state,
regardless of whether or not they live in the district. Families of students who
transfer from their local district do not pay tuition. However, a local district loses
state aid for each student who transfers to another district and gains state aid for
each student who transfers from another district.
The program first took effect in the 1998-99 school year. It is designed
to encourage competition among districts as a means of fostering improvement in public
schools, and to provide families with increased flexibility in their educational
choices. The Department of Public Instruction’s costs to administer the program were
$142,300 in fiscal year (FY) 2001-02. Additionally, an
estimated $304,000 was spent to assist low-income families with
transportation costs. State aid for each student’s instructional costs is transferred
from the sending to the receiving district, so these costs are revenue neutral from
the State’s perspective. In FY 2001-02, the state aid transfer amount was
$5,059.
Participation Has Increased Each Year Since the Program’s Inception
In the 2001-02 school year, 9,457 students participated in the open
enrollment program, and all but 1 of Wisconsin’s 426 school districts had at least one
student participating. Student participation has increased each year since the
program’s inception, and total transfers nearly quadrupled from the
1998-99 school year through 2001-02. Nevertheless, only
1.1 percent of all Wisconsin public school students participated in the
program in 2001-02. Participation rates are comparable to initial
participation rates in other midwestern states.
Although only a small percentage of all public school students participate,
participation rates are significantly higher in some small districts. For example,
28.8 of 70 students in the Linn J4 district, or 41.1 percent
of that district’s membership, participated in open enrollment in the
2001-02 school year. In districts with larger memberships, rates of
participation were lower but the number of students participating was frequently
greater. For example, 1,331 students left Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)
for nearby suburban districts, which did not lose equal numbers of students to MPS.
Academic performance in districts appears to influence participation in the program.
We compared district performance measures collected by the Department to transfer
patterns for 30 pairs of districts, to identify whether open enrollment transfers were
more likely to be toward higher- or lower-performing districts. In 10 transfer pairs
involving MPS and suburban districts, and in most of the 20 pairs that did not involve
MPS, students transferred to districts with higher academic test scores.
Fiscal and Programmatic Effects Have Been Limited to a Few Districts
It is too early to determine whether public schools have improved as a result of
district competition to retain and attract students. Few districts report developing
new or innovative programs in response to open enrollment, perhaps because most gained
or lost 20 students or less. Only 53 of 426 school districts had net gains of 21 or
more students under open enrollment, and only 41 districts had net losses of 21 or
more students. Fiscal effects of the program have been limited to those districts that
experienced significant participation. In 2001-02, 308 of the 426 school
districts had net gains or losses of less than $75,000. However, several
districts gained or lost significant amounts of state aid.
Minority Student Participation Has Been Relatively Low
Minority students participate in the open enrollment program at lower rates than their
representation in school districts: 19.9 percent of all public school
students belonged to one or more minority groups in 2001-02, but minority
students accounted for 11.6 percent of open enrollment transfers in that
year. In contrast, 80.1 percent of all public school students in
2001-02 were white, but white students accounted for 84.7 percent of open
enrollment transfers. It is unclear why minority students, particularly
African-American and Hispanic students, are participating in open enrollment at
lower rates. However, one reason minority participation might be lower in the
Milwaukee area is that minority students in MPS have other public school choice
options, including Chapter 220 and the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.
Increased Participation through Virtual Charter Schools Could Increase Costs
Open enrollment, the Internet, and the charter school law have created a situation that
may not have been anticipated: the possibility of the State funding the cost of
education for students who are home schooled. At least two Wisconsin school districts
have considered creating Internet-based charter schools and attracting home-schooled
and other students from throughout the state through the open enrollment program.
Enrolling 50 percent of the estimated 20,382 students who are currently
home schooled would represent more than $52.9 million in additional
transfer payments and would significantly increase school costs eligible for state
general school aids. School district staff are also concerned about the increasing
administrative burden of processing open enrollment applications, and program rules
related to special education are under federal review.
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