D.C. COUNCIL WANTS VOUCHERS

Why does the national Democratic Party have such fierce opposition to a program that successfully helps poor children to escape failing inner city schools and get the education they deserve?

The life and death saga of the D.C. voucher program for low-income families continues, says the Wall Street Journal. A majority of the members of the D.C. Council recently sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan expressing solid support for continuing the program.

"We strongly urge you to stand with us in supporting these children and continuing the District's Opportunity Scholarship Program," ... "We believe we simply cannot turn our backs on these families because doing so will deny their children the quality education they deserve."

Earlier this year Illinois Senator Dick Durbin added language to a spending bill that phases out the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program after next year:

• The program provides 1,700 kids $7,500 per year to use toward tuition at a private school of their parents' choosing.
• Durbin's amendment says no federal money can be spent on the program beyond 2010 unless Congress reauthorizes it and the D.C. Council approves.

The D.C. Council's letter shows that support for these vouchers is real at the local level and that the opposition exists mainly at the level of the national Democratic Party.

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