School Choice: Created Equal, but Not in Washington, D.C.
Rachel Sheffield /
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP), the flagship school choice program in the nation’s capital.
Since 2004, this program has provided low-income schoolchildren in Washington, D.C., which ranks 51st in the nation in standardized test scores, with scholarships worth $7,500 each to attend private schools of their choice. However, despite the program’s popularity and success—including significantly increased graduation rates and improved reading scores—political maneuvers have managed to jeopardize the future of this program and, along with it, the futures of hundreds of children in the nation’s capital.
The new legislation, introduced by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R–OH) and known as the SOAR Act, would not only reauthorize the scholarship program but also expand it to give more children the opportunity for school choice. (more…)