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January 2004
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Jan. 22 that will create a voucher program for D.C. Public School students. Leading Washington, D.C. policy makers are supporting the expansion of school choice in the city to include educational vouchers.
Statements from D.C. Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams support the D.C. voucher program. Both figures join Kevin Chavous, chair of DC city council’s education committee, in supporting a three-sector approach to educational options in D.C. that involve:
1. increased funding for public schools;
2. increased funding for charter schools;
3. the creation of a voucher program in the nation’s capital.
Such support is noteworthy because it is the first time that local elected officials have spoken out in favor of vouchers for D.C. (a school voucher bill was previously passed by Congress but was vetoed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1998). The support has generated some controversy, as the district’s sole non-voting representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, has claimed that such a program violates home rule.
The Senate bill approved $13 million for the voucher program and a separate $13 million each for D.C.'s public schools and its charter schools. Strong opposition comes from opponents such as the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the People for the American Way due to the high visibility of such a program in the nation’s capital.
Click on links below for more information on the voucher proposal:
D.C. School Choice Facts
"D.C. Voucher Program Signs Up Families," Education Week, 6/23/04
Washington Scholarship Fund letter to the editor, The Washington Post, 6/15/04
"D.C. School Vouchers Outnumber Applicants," The Washington Post, 6/11/04
"Initial Research Contract on D.C. Vouchers Awarded," Education Week, 4/7/04
"City officials tap group to run voucher program," The Associated Press, 3/24/04
"Williams, Paige start working on vouchers," The Washington Times, 2/4/04
"D.C. School Vouchers Win Final Approval," The Washington Post, 1/23/04
"Stalemate shelves spending bill," The Washington Times, 12/10/03
"House Approves Vouchers For D.C.," The Washington Post, 12/09/03
"Congress Breaks Without Passing D.C. Vouchers," The Washington Post, 11/26/03
"Republicans Revive D.C. Voucher Plan," The Washington Post, 11/17/03
"Senate GOP Sets New Voucher Strategy," The Washington Post, 10/24/03
"Senate Backs Off D.C. School Vouchers; Republicans Regrouping After Threat of Filibuster," The Washington Post, 10/1/03
"Senate Talks Resume Over D.C. Vouchers; Williams Makes Rare Visit to Session," The Washington Post, 9/26/03
"D.C. vouchers bill stalls in Senate; GOP, 2 key Democrats huddle," The Washington Times, 9/25/03
"Kennedy vows to defeat school voucher bill," The Associated Press, 9/11/03
"D.C. School Voucher Bill Passes in House by 1 Vote; Grant Plan for at Least 1,300 Students Goes to Senate," The Washington Post, 9/10/03
"House Approves Vouchers For D.C.; U.S. Would Pay Tuition For 1,300 Students," The Washington Post, 9/6/03
"D.C. Vouchers Clear Senate Panel; Democrats Vow Fight," The Washington Post, 9/5/03
"Feinstein Will Endorse D.C. Vouchers," The Washington Post, 9/4/03
"Washington's Children Deserve More Choices," Williams, Chavous, and Cooper Cafritz op. ed., The Washington Post, 9/3/03
"Feinstein backs vouchers for D.C. schools," The San Francisco Chronicle, 7/23/03
"In Shift, Feinstein Backs D.C. Vouchers," Los Angeles Times, 7/23/03
"Let DC Try Vouchers," Sen. Dianne Feinstein op.ed., The Washington Post, 7/22/03
"Foes Halt Vote on School Vouchers; Democrats Reject Senate's D.C. Bill," The Washington Post, 7/18/03
"D.C. Voucher Plan Advances; House Version Clears Committee; Deal Sought in Senate," The Washington Post, 7/16/03
"Emotions Run High in D.C. School Voucher Hearing," Education Week, 7/15/03
"House Panel Approves Plan for D.C. Vouchers; Norton Says Member's Absence Affected Result," The Washington Post, 7/11/03
"Chavous' support for vouchers slips," The Washington Times, 7/4/03
"Vouchers No Threat To Schools, Davis Says," The Washington Post, 6/25/03
"D.C. Vouchers: Idea Whose Time Has Come?" Education Week, 5/21/03
"Vouching for Milwaukee and the District," The Washington Post letter to the editor, 5/19/03
"Black Support For Vouchers Fueling A Democratic Divide," Investor's Business Daily, 5/13/03
"The mayor throws a lifeline," The Economist, 5/8/03
"D.C. voucher plan would far exceed others in USA. Low-income students could get up to $11,000," USA Today, 5/6/03
"Mayor Endorses Vouchers in D.C.; Norton Criticizes Statement as 'Selling Out' Home Rule," The Washington Post, 5/2/03
"Cafritz is Criticized for Voucher Support," The Washington Post, 3/31/03
"Bush Aide Says Voucher Offer Would Require D.C.'s Agreement," The Washington Post, 2/4/03
"Bush Budget Includes D.C. School Vouchers," The Washington Post, 2/3/03
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