By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

MADISON, Wis. – Finally we have some across-the-board agreement in Wisconsin regarding the state’s private school voucher program.

Gov. Scott Walker recently signed a new state budget that expands the voucher program from Milwaukee and Racine to the rest of the state. Enrollment outside the two original cities will be capped at 500 students in the coming school year and 1,000 in the second year.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate who were cynical about the expansion say they will push for more accountability for private schools enrolled in the program, according to the Wisconsin Radio Network.

“Those schools that are in the choice program will be measured and treated the same as public schools in terms of delivering the quality of education,” Sen. Mike Ellis, president of the state Senate.

Ellis said legislation to make voucher schools more accountable will be introduced in the fall, according to the news report.

Gov. Scott Walker, who pushed for the statewide expansion of the voucher program, seems to be on board with that idea. He recently said he wants any school that gets tax funding to be tracked and graded under the state’s school report card system.

Teachers unions are also eager for an equal assessment of all state-funded schools.

“It will be interesting to see if they (voucher schools) have to meet the same standards or if they’re going to create another system, a whole separate system of accountability …” Betsy Kippers, president-elect of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, told the radio network.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

We can’t argue with concept of holding all schools – public, public charter and private – accountable for student learning. The state has no business investing in schools that don’t produce well-rounded graduates who are prepared for the next step in life.

But we also think the fairness doctrine should be taken one more step.

In Wisconsin and throughout the nation, charter schools that fail to meet their goals are frequently shut down. And we assume that in Wisconsin, private schools that don’t get the job done will lose their ability to get state funding.

Shouldn’t the same pressure be applied to traditional public schools throughout the state? Many schools and school districts, particularly in urban areas, have been allowed to exist in a state of perpetual failure for decades, and few people have ever suggested that they should be closed.

Maybe that sort of threat is what some schools need to get their acts together.

We believe the state doctrine when it comes to education should be standard for all schools – prove you are providing effective instruction for students within a reasonable period of time, or forget about collecting a dime of state funding in the future.

If that means lights out, perhaps it’s for the best.