Wisconsin bill would let students qualify for parental choice if a sibling participated last year

Senate Bill 452, introduced Sept. 29, 2025, would allow a pupil to participate in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Racine Parental Choice Program or Wisconsin Parental Choice Program if the pupil’s sibling or a dependent child of the pupil’s parent or legal guardian attended a participating private school in the previous school year. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators André Jacque, Steve Nass, Howard Marklein and Roger Roth and cosponsored in the Assembly by Representatives Joel Kitchens, Amy Loudenbeck, and others; it was referred to the Committee on Education.

Under current law, family income limits and grade-level or prior-year attendance rules determine eligibility for the parental choice programs. The bill creates new subsections in statutes 118.60 and 119.23 to provide that, “notwithstanding” those requirements, any pupil in kindergarten through 12 who meets the basic statutory conditions may enroll in a participating private school if a sibling or the parent’s dependent child attended such a private school the previous year. The Legislative Reference Bureau analysis included with the bill restates that current MPCP and RPCP income limits are tied to 300% of the federal poverty level and the WPCP limit is 220% of the federal poverty level; those limits would not apply for pupils qualifying under the sibling/dependent-child pathway created by the bill.

SECTION 1 of the bill creates 118.60(2)(ac) to add the eligibility pathway for pupils who reside in a school district other than a 1st-class city school district; SECTION 2 creates 119.23(2)(ac) to add the same pathway for pupils who reside within a 1st-class city (the statutory scheme separates the statewide program and the Milwaukee/Racine programs). SECTION 3 sets the bill’s initial applicability: the measure would first apply to applications for attendance in the 2026-27 school year.

The bill text cites s. 49.19(1)(a) for the definition of “dependent child.” The document does not record any committee action or floor vote; the only formal action in the text is referral to the Committee on Education.