2006AP1380 Johnson v. Burmaster

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Schools
Virtual charter schools

Virtual charter schools violate Wisconsin's charter school, open-enrollment, and teacher licensing statutes.

"The relevant provisions of these statutes prohibit a school district from operating a charter school located outside the district, require that open-enrollment students attend a school in the district, and require that teachers in all public schools, including charter schools, be state-certified. For each statute, the District presents a creative reading allowing WIVA to continue its present operations, but our job is not to bend the statutory framework to fit WIVA. If, as its proponents claim (and its opponents dispute), WIVA has hit upon a bold new educational model that educates pupils in a way equal to traditional school at a fraction of the cost, then the legislature may well choose to change the law to accommodate WIVA and other schools like it. However, as the law presently stands, the charter school, open-enrollment, and teacher certification statutes are clear and unambiguous, and the District is not in compliance with any of them."

Reversed and remanded.

Recommended for publication in the official reports.

2006AP1380 Johnson v. Burmaster

Dist. II, Ozaukee County, McCormack, J., Brown, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Brown, Lucy T., Madison; For Respondent: Zierdt, Alyson K., Oshkosh; Lefkowitz, Jay P., New York, NY; Shumsky, Michael B., Washington, D.C.; Bentsen, Derek S., Washington D.C.; Wall, Jeffrey B., Washington D.C.

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