Community Organizes for Vouchers

Campus Report ^ | August 25, 2009 | Anthony Kang

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Community Organizes for Vouchers

by: Anthony Kang, August 25, 2009

On August 20th, dozens of elementary students and parents gathered in front of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in a daytime vigil organized by D.C. Parents for School Choice as part of their SaveThe216 campaign to save the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).

The D.C. OSP is part of a three-sector education initiative for public schools, charters schools, and OSP participants. The program, which provides low-income children with scholarships of up to $7,500 allowing parents to choose the education they believe is best for their children, was passed by Congress in 2004 and is currently funded through the 2009-2010 academic school year.

A series of studies conducted by Georgetown University and the University of Arkansas, concluded that OSP parents are “very satisfied,” “more involved,” and found improved communications with their children who have had “an improved attitude toward learning,” and “increased self-esteem.” A study by the Institute for Education Sciences at the DOE concurred with the universities’ findings and found participants had higher levels in reading “equivalent to 3.1 months of additional learning.”

However, Congress passed an act this year that severely threatens the continuation of OSP.

According to a report by The Heritage Foundation, many public officials who oppose school-choice policies for their fellow citizens exercise school choice in their own lives.

SaveThe216 is an homage to the 216 children who were offered scholarships under the D.C. OSP, only to learn, via letter, that Education Secretary Arne Duncan had rescinded the allocated scholarships.

Adam B. Schaeffer, an educational policy analyst at the CATO Institute, has a very pessimistic outlook for the OSP’s future....