In one of his final anticipated acts as a congressman and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, this week  John Boehner introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize for five years the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, the plan that provides private school scholarships to about 1,500 children a year living in poverty.  The funding for the OSP is part of the three sector education approach spearheaded by local philanthropist Joseph E. Robert, Jr. when he was alive that also includes $15 million for the traditional school system and another $15 million for the charter sector.

Yesterday, eight D.C. Councilpersons sent a letter to U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, calling for the winding down of the OSP by blocking new entrants to the program and only allowing those students currently enrolled to continue using the vouchers through high school.  The move proclaims loud and clear to members on the Hill that you can have your money back.

The signatories on the letter include education committee chairman David Grosso, Anita Bonds, Charles Allen, Yvette Alexander, LaRuby May, Brianne Nadeau, Elissa Silverman, and Jack Evans.  Those apparently not going along with the idea of taking away the scholarships include Vincent Orange, Mary Cheh, Kenyan McDuffie, Brandon Todd, and perhaps most interesting, Council chairman Phil Mendelson.  In additon, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennie Niles did not add their names to those calling for the repeal of the legislation.  The Washington Post’s Lyndsey Layton quotes the Mayor’s spokesperson as commenting:

“We support federal funding that benefits District residents. . . The District has been a model for education reform, and the mayor is committed to building on our successes.”

Most unfortunately, the letter includes multiple false claims about the OSP.  To pick out just a few, it states that students do not benefit from participating in the plan, that it lacks accountability, and that it provides more funding than is offered through the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula.  All of these statements are not accurate.

Students receiving scholarships have a 91 percent high school graduation rate, 21 percent higher than that of kids whose parents sought a voucher but could not obtain one.  The rate is about 30 percent higher than that of DCPS.  A 2013 review of the OSP found a statistically significant increase in reading scores.

In addition, there are multiple accountability measures included in the Act.  Schools participating in the OSP, among other things, are required to maintain valid certificates of occupancy, provide information on school accreditation, demonstrate financial strength if operating less than five years, be open to visits by the plan administrator, and ensure that each teacher of core subjects has a baccalaureate degree or higher.

Finally, the scholarships are worth about $8,300 for elementary and middle school and $12,400 for high school.  These figures are substantially below the UPSFF amount of approximately $18,000 spent on each student per year.

Perhaps the most important fact about the OSP is that for 84 percent of the pupils enrolled, if there were no scholarships they would be attending a neighborhood school designated by the No Child Left Behind law as in need of improvement.  But I’m sure if asked the eight D.C. representatives who signed yesterday’s letter would say that its all about the kids.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

It was just made official that beginning this school year the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, the $15 million plan that provides private school vouchers to low income children in the nation’s capital, will be transitioned from being administered by the D.C. Youth and Investment Trust Corporation to a new non-profit entitled Serving Our Children.  Here’s the background.

From its inception as a federal program in 2003 under President George W. Bush, the OSP was run by the Washington Scholarship Fund, the organization created by Joseph E. Robert, Jr., the same individual who twenty five years ago founded Fight for Children.  From the time they came into office President Obama and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan have been fierce opponents of the scholarships, seeking to end Congressional funding and limit the number of participants.  Mr. Robert gallantly and bravely opposed these efforts, even during his brave battle to beat the brain cancer that would eventually take his life.  But in 2009 the obstacles set up to stop those living in poverty from receiving a free private school education became too much, and the WSF decided to end its association with the OSP.

Since 2010 the program has been administered by the Trust.  While recognizing that there are people at this organization who have worked hard to support the program, voucher advocates have been critical of the management of the OSP by this group,  pointing out that its efforts to market the plan to eligible families should have been significantly stronger, and highlighting that much of the money that could have spent on scholarships has not been distributed.  For example, it is estimated that approximately $42 million in rollover funds is currently sitting unused.

This year the agreement under which the OSP was directed was up for renewal and the Trust informed the Department of Education that it was no longer interested in playing this role.  A Request for Proposal was issued and Serving Our Children responded, along with another entity entitled DC School Reform Now, whose executive director David Pickens worked under Mr. Duncan when he was CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

Serving Our Children is excited to have been awarded the bid to run the OSP, as the board of directors is comprised of several prominent members who have years of direct experience with school choice.  Among these include past Mayor of the District of Columbia Anthony Williams, past D.C. Councilman Kevin Chavous, Friendship PCS founder and chairman Donald Hense, and Sheila Jackson, a community activist and OSP parent.  SOC’s executive director is Rachel Sotsky, who as Senator Joseph Lieberman’s deputy legislative director was one of the original drafters along with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner of the SOAR Act which re-authorized the OSP in 2011.  The bill is part of a three-sector approach that provides money for private school vouchers as well as D.C. charters and the traditional school system.

Many important goals have been established by Serving Our Children for the OSP including building a stronger relationship with OSP families and with the Department of Education, establishing a more effective application timeline that will ensure wider participation in the plan, growing the number of participating schools, and perhaps most importantly, bringing the Opportunity Scholarship Program into the 21st century through a grant that will allow a major technology upgrade to the OSP database and application processing system.

It is truly a new day for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and for families living in poverty in the District of Columbia seeking a quality education for their children.