Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program

Report 25-23 | October 2025

SUMMARY

2015 Wisconsin Act 55, the 2015-17 Biennial Budget Act, created the opportunity schools and partnership program. Student achievement and other factors determine whether public schools are eligible for transfer into the program. Statutes include separate eligibility criteria for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and all other school districts. No schools have been transferred into the program to date.

Statutes require us to biennially complete a performance evaluation audit of the program. This is our fifth audit of the program.

No MPS schools were transferred into the program for the 2025-26 school year

A given MPS school is eligible for transfer into the program if MPS was placed in the fails to meet expectations category in the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI’s) most-recent School and School District Accountability Report, and that school either was placed in the fails to meet expectations category or is in a vacant or underutilized school building. No MPS schools were transferred into the program for the 2025‑26 school year.

Statutes require the Milwaukee County Executive to select a program commissioner, even if no MPS schools are in the program. However, during our current audit the county executive’s office indicated that the commissioner position is vacant as no MPS schools are eligible for the program.

No schools from other school districts were transferred into the program for the 2025-26 school year, and none will be transferred for the 2026-27 school year

Statutes specify separate eligibility criteria for school districts other than MPS. To be eligible, a school must be in a school district that had a membership of more than 15,000 students in the most-recent school year, was placed in the fails to meet expectations category in DPI’s two most-recent School and School District Accountability reports, and received intradistrict transfer aid in the two school years the school district was placed in the fails to meet expectations category.

In the 2023-24 school year, no other school districts received intradistrict transfer aid. As a result, no schools were transferred into the program for the 2025-26 school year, and none will be transferred for the 2026-27 school year. If school districts continue to receive no intradistrict transfer aid for subsequent school years, they will no longer be eligible for the program.