Voucher legislation considered for Washington, D.C.

5/20/03 -- A conflict over vouchers is heating up in the District of Columbia. Legislation has been proposed in Congress, and the mayor and some city officials have now come out in favor of vouchers as a way to potentially gain more federal education money for other purposes.

The D.C. school board passed a resolution last summer opposing vouchers, and a poll conducted by NSBA last fall shows most D.C. voters oppose vouchers.

Congress has considered voucher legislation targeted to Washington, D.C., several times in the past few years, but no bills have been enacted.

The latest bill, introduced by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), would create a corporation to establish and administer vouchers in the District of Columbia. It would provide vouchers worth $5,000 to children of families who fall below the national poverty line and $3,750 to children in families with household incomes not exceeding 185 percent of the poverty line.

The vouchers could be used in private schools in suburban Maryland or Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.

At a hearing May 9, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a strong opponent of vouchers, said, "Anyone in touch with the residents of our city would be struck by how deep their continuing opposition to vouchers has been."

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; a Duke University professor who has done extensive research on vouchers; and a parent of a D.C. public school student also testified against the bill.

Among those who testified in favor of vouchers were school board Chair Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Mayor Anthony Williams, and D.C. Council member Kevin P. Chavous, chair of the education committee. NSBA had sent a letter to the House Government Reform Committee opposing efforts to establish a voucher program in the District of Columbia.

President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget proposal contains $75 million for a "choice incentive fund" that includes an unspecified amount of money for a D.C. voucher program.

It's been reported that Williams' turnaround in favor of vouchers might be part of a deal to obtain an extra $100 million for the city for special education and public schools. School board member William Lockridge, who opposes vouchers, calls Williams' conditional support of vouchers a "sellout."

Lockridge says three of the seven board members oppose vouchers, and two could go either way. Two new members, appointed by Williams May 14, said they support vouchers.

Vouchers aren't needed, Lockridge says, because the city already offers extensive school choice, including 42 charter schools.

Voucher proponents' claim that vouchers won't take money away from public schools "are not true," Lockridge says. If a public school loses students, it would also lose its share of per-pupil funding.

The vouchers would only cover a portion of private school tuition, he notes, and most parents couldn't afford to make up the difference. That means "vouchers won't help the students they're intended to help."

And he says vouchers are discriminatory because not every eligible child would be able to get one, and private schools don't have to serve special education students. "Where's the accountability? Private schools can choose who they admit and don't have to follow the same laws as public schools."