WhatFinger


Are Democrats Going to Support "Their Own?"

DC Poor Demand Obama Restart Vouchers



Imagine an issue where citizens with an average income of $18,000 per year oppose President Obama and the Democrats and demand a Republican initiative be put back in place in public demonstrations.

Support Canada Free Press


Under severe pressure from Washington DC activists combined with the recent release of a detailed study by the Dept. of Education showing private schools in D.C. achieved higher academic levels at less cost, the Obama administration has had to make a 180 degree turn on school vouchers in Washington DC. The Democrats have quietly added legislation to extend the program. In March the Democrats had passed and the President signed an Omnibus spending bill that would have ended the popular DC Opportunity Scholarships Program by the end of 2010. Many local parents, community leaders, and inner city urban Democrats had supported the program vigorously because of strong community support. Obama and the Democratic leadership had put pressure on local Democrats to support ending the program but the community became enraged. A large rally which included a majority of poor from the DC area was held this week at the Freedom Plaza calling for reinstatement of vouchers after thousands of residents had sent Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, an enthusiastic Obama supporter who went along with ending the program, a petition demanding the program be continued. The Washington Times quotes the previous Mayor Anthony A. Williams who clearly disagrees with the Obama policy “To put our kids first, we need to fight to see that the U.S. Congress, the D.C. Council and my successor all support school choice for our children,” The scholarship program was started in 2003 to give poor students attending falling public schools scholarships to attend private schools including the one to which the President’s daughters attend. Currently the program has 1,700 students and provides scholarships up $7,500. Up to now there had only been one federally funded voucher program in the United States which was located in Washington D.C. The program was initially supported enthusiastically by many Democrats including Congressman Jose Serrano (D-NY). D.C. City Councilman, Kevin Chavous summed up the recent change towards the voucher program as quoted in the Washington Post : ”The party doesn’t want anything in place where public money is utilized to support children in private schools.” Another Democrat, Delegate Eleanor Norton (D-Washington D.C.) even has implied that closing the program would be hard to do without “harming” the students. President Obama has argued that voucher-based initiatives fund mostly faith-based schools, violating separation of church and state. This is not however consistent with a recent Supreme Court ruling, of Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, in which the Supreme Court ruled that students may study at any private or public school as long as aid is awarded directly to the parent or guardian and not the school. Under immense pressure from the National Education Association and unions representing teachers who strongly oppose school voucher programs Obama and the liberal Democratic leadership made the decision to slam the door on the opportunity for the Washington DC poor to get the same educational opportunities as his daughters. Opponents argue that the vouchers take money out of the public school system and thus take the chance to improve them. Instead of vouchers for private schools the Democratic alternative was charter schools which they claim would offer choice within the public system. However a recent Department of Education study on the effects of the voucher program confirms that the cost of the private schools and the quality of education were better than the public system. For those that participated in the scholarship program as compared to the public system there were better reading scores. Students in the voucher program performed at a level equivalent to almost 4 months more of additional learning. An overwhelming majority of parents who were dissatisfied with their child’s progress in public school were more than satisfied with their performance in the private school. Most significantly, based upon the most 2009 budgets for the Washington DC school system the cost of private school tuition was only $6,620 compared with an expenditure of $26,555 per student in the public school system. The difference in cost has been even more demonstrable over time because the public school spending per student has almost doubled since 2005 when it was $15,315. The Washington DC Scholarship program has been the best studied comparison of private vouchers versus public education. Opponents of school vouchers have pointed to previous studies which questioned if there were significant differences in student outcome or argued that school vouchers were subsidizing public funding of middle class children not the poor to private school. However, now the results clearly show that private vouchers can not only yield better academic results but also at a lesser cost which means with the same amount of funding more students could potentially be helped in private system. The truth in America is that there are two school systems existing side, the public and the private. The more income a family has the more likely that their children will attend a private school whereas the poorer a family is the more likely their children will attend a public school. No one argues that federal funded student loans or Pell grants should not be used for a poor student to attend the private university of Harvard or the religious university of Notre Dame. Then why should they argue that elementary school students cannot go to private school. Does not equal access to opportunity mean that the poorest student in Washington DC should have a chance to attend the same school as the daughter of the President of the United States? In a speech before the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in March, President Obama said “[Education] Secretary [Arne] Duncan will use only one test when deciding what ideas to support with your precious tax dollars: It’s not whether an idea is liberal or conservative, but whether it works.” It is time for the President and the liberal left to show that they prioritize the education of the children of America over the whims of their union supporters and embrace the national acceptance of the school voucher program. Even the socialist countries of Europe allow families to have the choice to send their children to parochial school on vouchers. This is an issue on which Conservatives and the Republican party can reach out to the greater community of America and show they do have a better plan which can benefit everyone.


View Comments

Dr. Tony Magana -- Bio and Archives

Dr. Tony Magana was raised in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M;University, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. He has served in the United States Army Reserve. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.


Sponsored