Today a House Appropriations subcommittee will vote on the annual District of Columbia appropriations bill. If Del. Elanor Holmes Norton has her way, the majority liberal panel will kill 1,900 scholarships for Washington, D.C., school children. These children will then be forced back into one of the worst public school systems in the country. Meanwhile, the Department of Education released a study on D.C.’s scholarship program showing positive initial results from the program’s first 19 months of existence. From a summary of the study: Reading achievement improved for three large …
The Washington Post has a fine but saddening editorial today taking Del. Elanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) to task for her dishonest efforts to kill 1,900 scholarships for DC children: [I]t now turns out that Ms. Norton is preparing a plan that could end the program after just one more year. Ms. Norton won’t discuss her plan, and she would, rather disingenuously, have the public believe that she is acting only to ensure an orderly transition of students from a program doomed because of the opposition of others in her party. …
On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the future of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program is in doubt. This program—which is currently helping 1,900 disadvantaged kids attend private schools—is set to expire next year if Congress doesn’t extend it. The Post reports that D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is championing an effort to kill the program. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program gives low-income students scholarships worth up to $7,500 to attend a private school in the nation’s capital. It has proven widely popular with parents. Since 2004, approximately 7,200 students …
Two stories from the Washington Post today provide a perfect contrast to how states and Congress approach education reform. First, Jay Matthews reports from New Orleans: The storm that swamped this city three years ago also effectively swept away a public school system with a dismal record and faint prospects of getting better. Before Hurricane Katrina, educator John Alford said, he toured schools and found “kids just watching movies” in classes where “low expectations were the norm.” Now Alford is one of many new principals leading an unparalleled education experiment, …
