Voucher politics

D.C. school voucher program should be renewed

Date published: 6/27/2008

IN AMERICA, we can choose paper or plastic, debit or credit, PC or Mac, and a different ring tone for every caller. So why shouldn't desperate Washington parents be able to choose the school their kids go to?

In 2003, President Bush proposed an option for parents frustrated with D.C.'s failing public-school system--Opportunity Scholarships. These are vouchers allowing students who otherwise could not afford the tuition to attend private schools.

After all, isn't this what the rich people do? From Sen. Barack Obama to former Vice President Al Gore, the option for the wealthy to walk away has always been there. Mr. Bush thought it would be good to try giving others the chance.

Now, 1,900 students are attending private, mostly Roman Catholic, schools under the Opportunity Scholarship program. But D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has had enough. She's asking the Democratic-controlled Congress to stop funding the program in the 2009-10 school year. She wants to use the money to convert the Catholic schools into public charter schools.

That would be a shame. The public-school establishment is notoriously territorial, but shouldn't the bottom line be what's best for the kids?

D.C. public schools rank fourth from the bottom in national graduation rates, and near last in math and reading test scores. But the problem isn't money: The system spends $13,400 per child--the highest sum in the nation.

School vouchers have allowed some students to exit that failing system, and their parents are thrilled with having that choice, according to a study by Georgetown University. D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee, for one, is a believer. She told the Wall Street Journal, "I would never, as long as I am in this role, do anything to limit another parent's ability to make a choice for their child. Ever." Even ex-mayor and current Councilman Marion Barry, long a foe of vouchers, has seen the light.

Ms. Norton needs to back off and let poor people enjoy some of the same choices as the well-heeled. The House Appropriations Committee, it seems, agrees: On Wednesday it voted to leave the voucher money in the budget. Bravo. The D.C. school voucher program, which awaits action from the full House and the Senate, should be renewed. Hope is a terrible thing to snatch away.

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Date published: 6/27/2008

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