Obama Budget Excludes New Funding for Successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program

President Obama announced his Fiscal Year 2014 budget this week, and unfortunately did not provide any new scholarship funding for the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), despite having signed legislation in 2011 that reauthorized the program for five years.  The president's budget only includes funding for the statutorily required evaluation and program administration.

If you follow AFC’s blog, Facebook, and Twitter, you have seen countless stories posted about the success stories of this program.  Since its beginning during the 2004-05 school year, The OSP has helped thousands of children from low-income District families receive the education they deserve.  (Read about some the program’s success stories here, here, and here). 

Since its inception, more than 11,000 families have applied to participate in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and more than 6000 have been fortunate enough to get a scholarship.   

It is despicable that we are not doing more to ensure each and every child has access to the best education for their needs.  Kids should not have to remain trapped in schools that do not work for them when another viable option exists right now - and no child should be forced to stay in a school that does not meet their needs simply because of their family's income. 

Accordingto last federal evaluation of the program in 2010, 91 percent of children who used their D.C. opportunity scholarships graduated from high school - 21 percent more than those who sought but did not receive a scholarship and 30 percent higher than D.C. public schools.  Subsequent research by the program administrator for 2010 and 2011 showed that 94 percent of scholarship students graduated and 89 percent of those students enrolled in college.

Unfortunately, the future of the OSP – a program that has proven its ability to deliver real results for students trapped in schools that do not work for their needs – is in jeopardy.  

While funding exists for approximately 2,000 children, this year's program had just under 1,600 students participating because of implementation challenges between the Department of Education and the program administrator.  The program is carrying over funds each year that supporters believe should be used to provide more scholarships for eligible children.   

What is most interesting is that the president has gone on the record reiterating the need to provide low-income students with the access to a better tomorrow.   

Duringa speech in Decatur, Georgia in February, President Obama said “the size of your paycheck shouldn’t determine your child’s future.”   We agree full-heartedly.  Each child – no matter their family’s income or their zip code – should be entitled to the same opportunities to succeed.  So why restrict a program that is delivering real results for some of the poorest students in our nation’s capital? 

A better tomorrow starts with a quality education.  We cannot continue to sit back and wait for poor-performing schools to improve.  We must deliver all children the educational options necessary to open the door to greater opportunities tomorrow.

Why I Joined the Fight for Educational Options

Lisa Leslie

When my husband and I researched the schools in our area, we were surprised to see how low the schools were ranked. We have heard about the fight and argument for better education but never took the time to research it until it was time for our daughter to go to school. We had to make a decision: Either put the money into a private school or move to a new house in a location where the schools are ranked higher. We chose to move and enroll our daughter into a public school. I then thought about all those children who were left behind. Having the opportunity to receive a high-quality education should not be reserved for those with the money to send their child to a private school or – in our case – physically relocate to an area with better schools.  All children, no matter their family’s income or Zip code, are deserving of the same quality education my children receive.
The more I thought about it, the more passionate I became. I want to help more children find the best education possible. While the local public school may work for some students, it is not the answer for every child.   We need options on the table to ensure all children have access to the education that best addresses their needs.

In high school, I was an honor student, class president (three years in a row!) and graduated with a 3.7 grade point average. Growing up in a single-parent home with limited financial resources, my local neighborhood school was my only educational option. I really loved my time in high school and did the best I could in the classroom. I had a true appetite for learning and felt great about what I learned.  It wasn’t until I got to college and struggled, forced to take extra classes to get me caught up to freshman level, that I began to question whether I had actually received the best education possible. 

This doesn’t have to be the case. 

Educational options – including private school choice programs – have a proven track record of providing students from low- to middle-income families with access to a quality education. It provides parents with the ability to choose the education that they feel is best for their children. It is the foundation for ensuring all children have every opportunity to build a successful future.

Thanks to my work with the American Federation for Children, I had the opportunity to share my story at National School Choice Week events in Atlanta, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee.  I instantly connected with the families in these cities who face the same obstacles my husband and I encountered.  When your child’s school is failing to address your child’s needs, what do you do?  Where do you go? 

I decided to join the fight to ensure our children have access to educational options to help give a voice to the countless number of parents across the country who want to see their child succeed in a school that works.   

It is time all students – regardless of their family’s income, zip code, or race – be given an equal shot at a quality education and a brighter future.

-Lisa Leslie

National School Choice Week is in Full Swing

Over 7,000 school choice supporters gathered in Phoenix, AZ on Friday to kick-off this year’s celebration – the largest event yet!  Check out some of the event’s highlights courtesy of ABC Phoenix and Univison.

Commemorating the week-long festivities, House Speaker John Boehner posted a video today to his official YouTube channel, issuing his support for parent choice. 

“Congress needs to open up the education system to include all forms of school choice, including private, charter, traditional public, and home schools,” said Speaker Boehner in the video.  “School choice has proven to boost graduation rates, improve parental satisfaction and increase student achievement.  If we restrict parents’ choices, we only harm our children’s future.”

Click below to watch Speaker Boehner’s message:



As thousands of school choice advocates, families, and students celebrate access to educational options, we’d like to highlight a few events this week, and encourage you to get involved:

• Tuesday, January 29: Kevin P. Chavous, Executive Counsel to American Federation for Children will be a featured panelist at the Nashville National School Choice Week Celebration.  Joined by WNBA star Lisa Leslie, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, and student leader Sandeep Thomas, Chavous will be moderating the discussion on the future of educational choice in Tennessee. 
• Wednesday, January 30: Thousands of families are expected to gather in Atlanta for the Georgia School Choice Celebration and Rally.  Sponsored by the Center for an Educated Georgia and the? Georgia Family Council, the event will bring together families and state legislators to celebrate the state’s school choice options and support for a quality education for all students.
• Saturday, February 2: The American Federation for Children will also be participating in a rally on Saturday in Houston, TX hosted by Families Empowered. Also, we’re proud to partner with the Institute for Justice to host a celebration for students currently enrolled in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

For more information on how you can get involved in any of these events, please contact Randan Swindler – Rswindler (at) federationforchildren.org

-American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, KMS

2013: The Year of Education Choice?

While more students than ever have access to educational options this year—and you can get the full slate of numbers when our annual School Choice Yearbook is released next week—thousands more are still unable to attend the school of their choice. 

Robert Enlow, president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, recently wrote an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calling on lawmakers across the country to expand or grant access to choice programs being considered in their state.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Federation and the Alliance!

Happy Thanksgiving from the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice!

School Choice Now! will be back with the latest commentary, educational choice news, and updates on Monday, November 26!

The Powerful Voting Block: Latino Voters

At the conclusion of this year's election season, while there was much debate about why candidates won and lost, both parties essentially agreed that the Latino vote was critically important to the election—and will be so in future elections, too.

This year, 23.7 million Latinos were eligible to vote—an increase by more than 4 million since 2006.  As Christina Martinez and Julio Fuentes (the head of the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options) write, this election resulted in historic numbers of Latino voters and Latino officials:  Latinos represent 11 percent of voters in 2012—up from 8.2 percent in 2004. And let's not forget that Latino officials serve in the state legislators of 36 states.

As candidates from both parties begin to heavily campaign to Latino voters in coming elections, they should keep in mind the sure place to win support: in education policy.

According to a poll commissioned by the American Federation for Children and HCREO in May 2012, Latino voters in five battleground states strongly support educational choice:

• Ninety-one percent of Latinos—in five key states—Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Nevada—think voucher or scholarship tax credit programs should be available in some form.

• A strong majority of Latinos also support specific types of educational options: 69 percent support voucher programs, 71 percent support scholarship tax credit programs, and 70 percent support education savings accounts.

• An astonishing 80 percent of Latinos support special needs scholarship programs, which can be in the form of voucher programs, scholarship tax credit programs, and education savings account programs.

Latino voters have shown that they support educational options; they have also shown that they vote in large numbers.  Let’s hope elected officials notice and put strong support behind much-needed educational choice.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Meet Aaron

Aaron, 16, has received a scholarship through the Milwaukee Parental Choice program since he was in Kindergarten.  He considers himself very fortunate because he attends a school where he gets pushed to do better and is constantly motivated.  His Chemistry teacher in particular constantly gives Aaron a heavier load work “because he knew I could do it."  Aaron’s parents applied for Aaron and his sisters to participate in the scholarship program because it gives Aaron and his siblings the opportunity to attend a private school they could otherwise not afford.  Aaron says attending private school keeps him out of trouble and provides more than academic knowledge: it teaches him how to be a better man, something Aaron talks about at home every day.

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program was enacted in 1995 and serves more than 23,000 students.  Independent research has demonstrated a higher graduation rate for participating students.  Parental satisfaction surveys also demonstrate high support among parents. 

Meet Raunel

Raunel, 15, is starting his sophomore year at Shoreland Lutheran High School thanks to the Racine Parental Choice Program.  Since started receiving his scholarship last school year, Raunel has improved in English, earned his way into the Honors Study Hall, and joined the AV club. 

“Last year, I learned right away that the teachers were willing to help me if I had any questions. So I asked questions,” Raunel said.

The Racine Parental Choice Program was created in 2011 and modeled after the highly-effective Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.  Raunel is one of 500 students participating in the program—the cap on the number of students allowed to participate.  Beginning next school year, the enrollment cap will be removed, allowing more children in Racine to attend the school of their parents’ choice.

Meet Jaevion

In its second year, the Choice Scholarship Program in Indiana enrolled more than 8,000 students in the program—more than doubled the enrollment of the program’s first year.  One of the students participating in the program is Jaevion.

“As a single mother, I had lost the ability to, not just give my son the great education he deserved, but to finance an appropriate and fitting education for Jaevion,” said Jeronna, Jaevion’s mother.  “Up until recently, Jaevion and I were homeless.  During that time, I didn’t think sending my son to a school where he would thrive would even be possible, but then, the voucher program came along and there was renewed hope that Jaevion could receive the quality education I have always wanted for him. So, we applied and were accepted into the voucher program.”

The teaching strategy that Jaevion’s school uses has encouraged his desire to learn more and to earn good grades.  In fact, Jaevion enjoys attending school every day and is more committed than ever before to reading.

“There isn’t a doubt in my mind that Jaevion is exactly where he needs to be in order to thrive academically,” says Jaevion’s mother.

The Choice Scholarship Program was created in 2011 and had the highest first year enrollment of any voucher program at nearly 4,000 students.  This year, more than 8,000 students are participating in the program.  

Watch a video below about Jaevion and his mother:

   

Meet Anthony

Anthony’s family moved to Florida just to participate in the Florida Scholarship Tax Credit program because his family wanted to find the school that could best serve Anthony, who has Asperger’s syndrome.  Here’s Anthony, in his own words, on his experience of attending the school of his parent’s choice thanks to Florida’s private school choice program:

Before I started going to Liberty Christian Academy, I thought it was normal that kids didn’t accept kids like me, or that all teachers didn’t know just how to deal with someone who was different. I have Asperger’s  syndrome, but I do well in school. Still, I didn’t seem to fit in. I thought, well, that’s as good as it gets. I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like school. I ate alone. My mom didn’t know what to do until she heard about Step Up For Students in Florida. We moved from Ohio to Florida and once I qualified, she applied for the scholarship and I started at Liberty Christian part way into my sophomore year. The kids there are accepting of different people. They even chose me as the vice president of our National Honor Society chapter. It’s a challenge, but I think I’m ready to step up and rise to the occasion. I think I can really be a standout.

—Anthony Hamilton, a Florida Tax Credit Scholarshi recipient and junior at Liberty Christian Academy, Tavares, Fla.

The Florida Scholarship Tax Credit is serving more than 45,000 students this school year.  And earlier, the program was expanded by increasing the cap on donations by $10.25 million, bringing the statewide donation cap to $229 million and expanding eligibility to include students in grades 2-5 without the prior public school attendance requirement.

Meet Lamar

 Lamar, who loves nature, science, and especially plants, now attends the Preparatory School of D.C. thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.  Lamar’s mom, Tiarra, applied for Lamar to participate in the program in the 2011-12 school year, but Lamar was not yet five years old.  She applied again this year and was excited to learn that Lamar had received a scholarship.  In fact, she was so excited that not only did she attend the School Welcome and Placement Fair to visit some of the private schools participating in the program she volunteered to help set up the fair.  Lamar received his school supplies donated by the Alliance for School Choice and is all ready for his first day of kindergarten thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program was created in 2004 for children from low-income families living in Washington, D.C. to attend the private school of their parents’ choice.  The program, which was reauthorized in 2011, has a graduate rate of 92 percent—more than 21 percentage points higher than those who were interested in the program, but did not participate.  This year, 229 new students are participating in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

It’s Time to Go Back to School! But Before We Do…

On this national holiday, the American Federation for Children celebrates the social and economic accomplishments of the American workforce and continues to advocate for more educational options so that our future workforce will be stronger for our nation.

From everyone at the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice, Happy Labor Day!