School choice advocates hope to expand vouchers in D.C., despite opposition
By Moriah Costa
Watchdog.org
February 13, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shawnee Jackson struggled to learn math in fourth grade, but her teachers at a D.C. public school wouldn’t give her the one-on-one attention she needed.
So her mother, Sheila Jackson, applied for a voucher through the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which helps low-income families in D.C. pay for private schools.
“I felt the D.C. public school system was failing her,” Sheila Jackson said. “And I just was not going to allow that to happen.”
Seven years later, Shawnee graduated valedictorian from the Preparatory School of D.C. and received a partial scholarship to study biology at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Now a sophomore, she says the OSP is what helped her succeed.
“(Without the OSP) I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go to a better school so I would have had to just stay where I was … without my teachers caring whether or not I passed,” she said.
Jackson is one of 6,000 students who have benefited from the scholarship program since its inception in 2004. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., hopes for more. He introduced the CHOICE Act to promote the OSP and provide additional scholarships.
Scott’s bill would also expand voucher options for military families and provide start-up funds for states to implement a choice program for children with special needs.
But President Barack Obama doesn’t want the program expanded — he wants it dead. The president’s proposed budget contains no money for the program, which relies on federal funding.
“The decision by this White House to defund the D.C. voucher program is a disgrace,” Stephen Moore, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, wrote in a blog post.
Other school choice advocates agree.
Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform, said in a statement the program should be expanded to help more families.
“Opportunity Scholarships are a lifeline for some of the neediest students in our nation’s capital,” she said. “The demand for this program is clear from the numbers alone.”
Data show the program is effective. Its participants had a 93 percent graduation rate, compared with 58 percent of D.C. public school students in 2012. About 90 percent of OSP students go on to a two- or four-year college.
Through a lottery, only 258 new students out of 1,700 applicants received the scholarships for the 2014-15 school year. Scholarships range from $12,572 for high school to $8,381 for elementary and middle school. Currently, about 1,500 students are enrolled in 48 schools across D.C.
Despite opposition from the White House, Scott is confident the program will continue. His bill, Senate Bill 1909, has nine Republican co-sponsors, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Alexander Lamar, R-Tenn.
“It has been so successful and it is undeniable,” he said. “We should want every child in the current generation to get the best education possible so that we can see the future America get wider and that footprint for success get broader.”
Shawnee Jackson agrees.
“They should continue to keep it going because it’s very helpful and gives the child a great opportunity,” she said.
