A bill that would revive a school voucher program in the District will likely come to a vote in the House of Representatives today, where it is expected to pass. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which would provide $7,500 to qualifying students to put towards private-school tuition and has been pushed by Speaker of the House John Boehner, was passed by a House panel earlier this month. It's chances in the Senate, where the Democratic leadership opposes the program, are less clear. more ›

Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) care so much about D.C. public schools that they're willing to forgo funding them if a controversial voucher program isn't revived. more ›

There's something wrong with America's education system, and filmmaker Bob Bowden starts his new documentary, The Cartel, examining the roots and potential solution to those problems like any good doctor, first attempting to diagnose and define the problem. His findings — that our reading and math scores are abysmal, and our dropout rates staggering — come as no surprise, but it's a necessary setup for his task of finding out why this is the case, and what can be done about it. more ›

UPDATE: Wesley Denton, a spokesperson for Sen. DeMint, has responded by email: more ›

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) may be a reliable Republican, but he's never made much noise when it comes to the District. That changed last week when he successfully added an amendment to legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House that would effectively gut the city's gun laws. While many a Republican before him have done the same -- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) first among them -- it is his move that could end up sinking the measure. more ›

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. more ›