Reauthorization of school vouchers on docket [House set to vote today on DC program]

OneNewsNow ^ | 3/30/11 | Bill Bumpas

[rhema]

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote today on a bill that would reauthorize a popular school-choice program in Washington, DC.

In 2009, the Democratic-controlled Congress allowed the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) to lapse by ending acceptance of new students into the program. Often referred to as the "DC voucher program," the DC OSP provides tuition vouchers to low-income families in the nation's capital, allowing parents to send their children to the private schools of their choice. The new measure before Congress would revive and expand the program.

Virginia Walden Ford, executive director of DC Parents for School Choice, knows first-hand how a scholarship benefits a family.

"My youngest son was 13 years old and he got a scholarship to attend any school that I chose," she says of the scholarship that came through one of her neighbors. "It was really a blessing."

[maine yankee]

But this would mean Mr Obama’s children would be attending classes with “those people”.

Ain’t gonna’ happen.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Though Isupport the values of "school choice" --- parental choice ---- I have grave doubts about whether a voucher system is the right way to go about it.

Whenever you have public funding of schooling BY ANY MEANS, you're also going to have public definition of eligibility, public certification and public regulation. Ultimately you have the public authorities running even the "faith schools" (as they do so obnoxiously in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere) and you've destroyed the very possibility of having a truly private school.

I support the Separation of School and State (Link)