The program is expected to cover costs for more than 3,000 students in the first full academic year it rolls out.

Photo by Shermeee used under a Creative Commons license. It was refreshing, if only for one moment, to read this morning’s news and find a story that actually made this curmudgeonly writer smile: the Washington Times picked up the AP report from a surprise ceremony last night at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts where nine D.C. high school seniors were awarded full scholarships — valued around $200,000 — to attend George Washington…