Soon, critics of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program won’t have any arguments left. For years, opponents have argued that the scholarship program wasn’t working. But a recent federal evaluation found that scholarship students have made “statistically significant” improvement in reading compared to their peers who didn’t get scholarships. The report … More

Last night, the House Appropriations Committee marked-up the spending bill that included funding for the D.C. government. The package included $12 million in funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program to allow current scholarship recipients to continue in their private schools. But the appropriations bill included language preventing any new … More

DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Principal Investigator for the Institute of Education Sciences Study at the University of Arkansas Patrick Wolf is the last witness to testify. He is the academic researcher who led the federally mandated evaluation. He says that this is the largest randomized experiment of a school … More

DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Former-Mayor Tony Williams is the first speaker on panel two. He takes on the common charge that the voucher program was forced on the district by the congress. He says that’s not true, listing the broad support the program had among district leaders at the … More

DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Tiffany Dunston says the opportunity scholarship has allowed her to go to college. Sen Lieberman pointed out that she was a valedictorian at arch Bishop Carroll high school. She explains that her nephew, who was on track to go to college, was killed too. She … More

DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Latasha Bennett is the first witness to testify. She explains that she has two children. One is a scholarship student in elementary school. Her younger child is entering kindergarten and can’t get a scholarship. She explains that she is disabled and unable to work and … More