On the recordOctober 21, 2015
I also introduce into the Record The Washington Post editorial from yesterday, ``A Misguided Attack on D.C.'s Needy Students,'' actually supporting this. [From the Washington Post, Oct. 20, 2015] A Misguided Attack on D.C.'s Needy Students (By Editorial Board) Is the federally funded scholarship program for poor D.C. families being forced on an unwilling city? It is safe to say that thousands of D.C. parents whose children are on the waiting list for a scholarship do not think so. Nor, we would venture, do the 6,100 children, predominantly minorities, who have used the scholarships to attend private schools. For that matter, students in the city's public schools who have benefited from the infusion of federal dollars that has accompanied the voucher program probably would not embrace the argument either. So whom do members of the D.C. Council think they are helping as they urge Congress to kill this program? Fortunately, it does not appear that the council members will succeed in inflicting this wound on their city. Congress appears poised to reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides needy students with up to $12,572 to pay for tuition, fees and transportation to a school of their choice. The average family income for participating families is less than $22,000. A bill extending the program for five years and championed by outgoing House Speaker John A.…
