Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Democrats Kill School Choice for the Poor - WSJ.com


Democrats Kill School Choice for the Poor - WSJ.com:

"The waiting is finally over for some of the District of Columbia's most ambitious school children and their parents. Democrats in Congress voted to kill the District's Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides 1,700 disadvantaged kids with vouchers worth up to $7,500 per year to attend a private school.

On Sunday the Senate approved a spending bill that phases out funding for the five-year-old program. Several prominent Senators this week sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid pleading for a reconsideration. Signed by Independent-Democrat Joe Lieberman, Democrats Robert Byrd and Dianne Feinstein, and Republicans Susan Collins and John Ensign, it asked to save a program that has 'provided a lifeline to many low-income students in the District of Columbia.' President Obama signed the bill Thursday."