The 185 students who received news of their scholarships
over the summer were surely elated to get significant financial assistance for
attending the city’s universities—both public and private. But others, including the Mark
Lerner writing in The Washington Times,
are remarking on the contradiction of the Mayor’s support for the Mayor’s
Scholars Fund, but strong opposition to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program.
Earlier this year, President Obama zeroed out funding forthe D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program in his 2013 budget and Gray also made
clear that parental choice is no longer a priority of his administration. In his proposal, he breached a promise made
to the charter school community by failing to close the funding disparity
between charter schools and traditional D.C. public schools, as required by
law.
The Administration—and Mayor Gray both opposes the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program and follows the Administration’s lead on the
program—argue that funding should only go to public schools, despite the fact
that as many as 17,000 students are on waiting lists to attend charter schools
and the voucher program continues to be oversubscribed. The question is, why is it ok for college
students to receive government money to attend private universities, but
children in poor-performing K-12 schools can’t receive a scholarship to attend
private schools?
As Mark Lerner writes, you’ll have to ask Mayor Gray. To us, it doesn’t make any sense.
- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG
- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG
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