Obama’s Budget Ends Funding for [successful] D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program

Heritage Foundation ^ | February 13, 2012 | Lindsey Burke

[grundle]

The Obama administration is once again standing with education special interest groups and against low-income children in Washington, D.C. His 2013 budget request zeros out funding for the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which was revived last year thanks to the hard work of Speaker John Boehner and the thousands of D.C. families who received scholarships to attend a private school of choice.

In 2009, Senator Dick Durbin included a provision in an omnibus spending bill prohibiting any new children from receiving scholarships unless the program was fully reauthorized by Congress and authorized by the D.C. City Council. The make-up of Congress in 2009 was such that a reauthorization of the voucher program was highly unlikely, meaning Durbin’s provision effectively doomed the program, since no new children were allowed to receive scholarships.

But in April 2011, Speaker John Boehner forced President Obama’s hand during heated budget negotiations, securing the restoration and expansion of the D.C. OSP. Families were elated. Once again, children would have the opportunity apply for scholarships to attend a private school of their choice, providing them a lifeline out of the underperforming and often dangerous D.C. Public Schools.

The D.C. OSP’s restoration in early 2011 was an important milestone in the “Year of School Choice.” More than 1,600 low-income children in the Nation’s Capital are using vouchers this school year to attend a school that they chose.

The D.C. OSP has been highly successful. According to federally-mandated evaluations of the program, student achievement has increased, and graduation rates of voucher students have increased significantly. While graduation rates in D.C. Public Schools hover around 55 percent, students who used a voucher to attend private school had a 91 percent graduation rate.

And at $8,000, the vouchers are a bargain compared to the estimated $18,000 spent per child by D.C. Public Schools.

The Department of Education’s budget will increase 3.5 percent if the proposal is enacted, continuing a failed trend of spending more taxpayer dollars through Washington on a myriad of programs with a poor track record.

By contrast, the D.C. OSP has a stellar track record of increasing academic success, student safety, and parental satisfaction. And because of the nature of the District of Columbia (education in D.C. is under the jurisdiction of Congress), it is entirely appropriate for the federal government to fund the D.C. OSP.

The President’s budget request signals that his administration is more interested in propping up a government school system than providing options for children to receive a quality education. Regardless of the prospects of advancement for the budget request, elimination of funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program shows that the Obama administration is not interested in funding “what works.” If the move is not a concession to education special interest groups, the administration should explain why they have placed this critical school choice program on the chopping block.

[grundle]

Obama would rather spend $18,000 of taxpayers' money per child for the horrible D.C. public schools, instead of spending only $8,000 of taxpayers' money per child for the successful voucher program. Of course, the hypocrite Obama has never sent his own children to public schools, whether it be while living in Chicago in the past, or in Washington D.C. now. Of course, the vast majority of voters in D.C. voted for Obama - it's too bad their innocent children have to suffer as a result of their own bad voting habits.

[FrankR]

[Brad’s Gramma]

Hark!!

[x_plus_one]

Obama’s budget is a guided missile to destroy business as usual in the USA. Our islamist president wants to have his cake and eat it too. Too bad he is so bad at political theatre and can’t be taken seriously.

[silverleaf]

The RNC ought to offer this as a scholarship program in the name of Abe Lincoln

$8K a kid is pretty cheap

Plenty of donors to fund it
How about Mittens after he drops out

[Daffynition]

Is *free* cheap enough?

[knarf]

I had to turn off all media .. radio/TV, because this is all I heard ... wall to wall ... 24/7 ... "Obama hates inner city black kids" ...

Gingrich, Santorum, Paul ... even mittens ... blah, blah, blah ... "Obama is a mental defective and hates his own race"

(Do I really need ..... / s ?)

[silverleaf]

maybe some rich RNC donors ought to make us the party of handouts- of vouchers for DC kids to attend Sidwell Friends or any other private school on an approved list (no marxist/muslim//calypso louie/black pride/la raza charters need apply please)

8K a kid X 1000 kids - pretty cheap by program standards
especialy since Turban-obama personally anti-earmarked this

[radioone]

If “Obama and crew” can keep kids from being educated, they end up being “slaves” of the government.

[MarkL]

The very last thing in the world that leftists like Obama and his ilk want are educated children. The public school districts are for one thing and one thing only: Getting leftists elected to government, so more money can be thrown down the money pit, while skimming some off for themselves.

I wonder what will happen when they realize that their blood-sucking tactics have bled their victims (the tax payers) dry? Shouldn't be too long now.

Mark