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.