Millions More for D.C. School Vouchers in 2009 Budget
Federal officials using the District as a testing ground on which to push their preferred domestic programs is nothing new, particularly when it comes to the city’s public schools (ahem, Sen. Landrieu). True to form, nestled deep within President Bush’s 2009 budget proposal is a $5 million increase for a school voucher initiative called the DC Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP). Currently, around 1,900 low-income students receive scholarships up to $7,500 to attend area private schools under the program, the creation of which was authorized through federal legislation in 2003.
A 2007 Department of Education report found no evidence of a statistically significant difference in test scores between students who were offered an OSP scholarship and students who were not offered a scholarship, and that students who were offered OSP scholarships did not report being more satisfied with school or feeling safer in school than those without. However, the program did have a generally positive impact on parent satisfaction and their perceptions of school safety.
School vouchers are a touchy subject for many educators and policy makers, and it’s worth noting that they tend to be a fairly partisan issue, with Dems and teachers unions on one side, the GOP and free-market types on the other, and the District caught in the middle. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton opposes the program and recommends its discontinuation, yet OSP was started in the first place with vocal support from then-mayor Anthony Williams.
We at DCist tend to look a little warily at vouchers, which seem to us more of a band-aid than a long-term solution for the city’s schools. But as the federal money for OSP comes tucked into a $32 million increase for D.C. public schools as a whole, Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee can’t really help but welcome the increased funding. As for long-term solutions? Try Sam Seaborn.