As predicted, sun rises today

Or something like that.

Alan Borsuk reports that, as predicted, the Department of Public Instruction's rationing plan for Milwaukee voucher schools will hit established schools hardest. We all, you know, saw it coming.

You, too, can read DPI's information here, under the header of "Information on Prorate." What you'll find is that the rule DPI was forced to adopt (after groups like School Choice Wisconsin rejected a plan that would have prevented this) treats schools that are new and may never even open the same as schools that have been around for years and have hundreds of students enrolled. That means the 40 new schools, asking for 4627 students (including one school asking for more than 700 students!) are, in great part, skewing the process. There's also the matter of existing schools' wildly optimistic requests for more than 10,000 more students than they enrolled this year, as well. Don't we all remember that Public Policy Forum says there won't even be an increase of 1000 students this year?

Some of the overage is undoubtedly due to the panic that pro-voucher groups created by manufacturing the cap crisis in the first place--schools overestimated so that they wouldn't get burned by the rationing. The good schools didn't, so, like the good students who don't cheat on their vocabulary quizzes (first block, I'm looking at you!), they lose out.

Anyway, that will be the news tomorrow. Just thought you should know.