Classes in D.C. public schools start Monday, but yesterday about 70 parents, children and activists gathered in front of the U.S. Department of Education to encourage Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to award vouchers to help the students pay for private school.
According to a Washington Times article, the 216 students, who were offered vouchers worth up to $7,500 toward tuition from the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program this spring before Duncan rescinded them in the face of the program’s uncertain future, were left to find placements in public and charter schools. Some families have complained that by the time the vouchers were rolled back, there were few spots available at competitive public schools.
“We’re hoping that Secretary Duncan is going to look out the window so he can see how strongly the parents support it,” said Virginia Walden Ford, executive director of D.C. Parents for School Choice. Virginia is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a school choice activist.
D.C. Parents for School Choice is a clearinghouse organization in Washington, D.C. that helps empower D.C. parents to make the best informed decisions on educational choices for their children.
The controversial voucher program, which has served as a proxy in a nationwide fight about whether to use public funds for private education, has drawn support from school-choice advocates, including Republicans and many low-income families who say the program gives poor children better access to quality education.
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