Dan Coats: “The amendment is titled the ``District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship'' amendment. It provides opportunity…”

“The amendment is titled the ``District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship'' amendment. It provides opportunity scholarships for children in grades K through 12 for District of Columbia residents whose family incomes are below 185 percent of the poverty level. Scholarships may be used to pay tuition costs at a public or private school in the District of Columbia and in adjacent counties in Maryland and Virginia. Scholarships are also available under this amendment for tutoring assistance for students who attend public schools within the District. We establish a District of Columbia scholarship corporation that will determine how the money is distributed. Student eligibility goes to those, as I said, whose family incomes are 185 percent or below of the poverty line. For those at or below the poverty line, these scholarships can total $3,200.”