Here's an eyewitness account from a May 23 listening session held by Wisconsin Assembly Rep. Michelle Litjens (R - Oshkosh), from blogger Appleton Wonk reporting on Blue Cheddar (emphasis mine):
Assembly bill 110 was brought into the discussion. This bill is cosponsored by Litjens and was introduced to the Assembly on April 26th of this year. Anniejo at the Daily Kos did an excellent piece on this bill. It can be found here. Someone said that ALEC was behind this legislation. Michelle rolled her eyes and denied this. This bill does not require that the private school have any special needs instructors, special needs curriculum or therapists on staff. Litjens said that this bill will help low income families be able to pull their special needs children out of public school if they are having issues with the school. She doesn’t believe there should be any income requirements for this or any school voucher program because many low income families have no W-2s or 1099s to prove their income.
My diary that Appleton Wonk so kindly linked is called Piratizing Special Education in Wisconsin: AB110. The diary connects the dots between AB110 (dubbed The Special Needs Scholarship Program Act) and the privatization assault on our public school system, financed by the DeVos and Koch families among others, and coordinated via ALEC. [Update: For a well-organized, readable introduction to ALEC, visit ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures by People for the American Way.]
For more background on why AB110 is such a bad idea, see Special Ed Vouchers Won't Help (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 May 2011).
For more information on why Rep. Litjen's denial is demonstrably false, see the following:
Here is the text of AB110 (PDF) as introduced in the Wisconsin legislature and co-sponsored by Rep. Michelle Litjens.
Here is the ALEC model legislation draft for The Special Needs Scholarship Program Act (PDF), as posted online by the Alliance for School Choice. Update: the Alliance for School Choice has taken down their copy of the ALEC model legislation. Fortunately, you can now find it at ALEC Exposed.
AB110 IS AN ALEC BILL.
If by chance you live in Wisconsin and would like to make an opinion on this known to Rep. Litjens, here is her Legislative Contact Information page.
Expose ALEC!