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.

The Reality of the Education Status Quo: Lower Expectations for Black Students

Public education is supposed to provide an equal education to all students, regardless of race or family income.

But parents and education reformers have long recognized that this is not the reality of our current education system.  Public charter schools, open enrollment, traditional public schools, magnet schools, and private school choice have been tirelessly fought for to allow low-income families to escape failing public schools where achievement is low and violence is often high.  After all, our equal system wasn’t supposed to determine a child’s future because based on a ZIP code.

But opponents to school choice have long claimed that instead of providing educational options to low-income families whose students end up at the bottom of the achievement gap, we should invest more money into fixing schools.  Years later, our failing schools are still failing—and there are more of them than ever.

We need a robust public education system that can serve our children; and we need educational choices for families that feel their children are being left behind.  Because the reality is, the status quo is leaving many of our children behind.

And now, defenders of the status quo are lowering expectations on academic performance—but only for students that are black, Hispanic, or poor.  Under waivers to 27 states, the goals over the next five years are lower for black, Hispanic, and poor students than they are for white and Asian students.

Parents have called this what it is—a prejudice.