D.C. Voucher Program

Senate Passes Legislation to Fund D.C. Voucher Program

On January 22, 2004, the United States Senate approved a bill that includes funding for a school voucher program for the District of Columbia. The provision was part of a larger spending bill that funds parts of the federal government for fiscal year 2004.

The House narrowly passed the voucher provision last year by a vote of 209-208, and the measure was considered all but dead in the Senate because the Senate had failed to include vouchers in the District of Columbia appropriations bill last November. But the Senate passed the omnibus appropriations bill that contained vouchers by a vote of 65-28 out of the need to fund those government agencies that had not yet been funded by the end of the 2003 fiscal year.

The controversial voucher provision gives the District $40 million annually for the next five years to establish a program that would give at least 1,700 poor public-school students vouchers worth up to $7,500 to attend private schools. The bill provides $13 million each year for a voucher scholarship program; $13 million for teacher training and recruitment, and improving student achievement through tutoring and public school choice; and $13 million to support existing charter schools and create five new ones in the District. The remaining $1 million will be used to pay administrative costs. The voucher program is set to begin in September. Four states currently have voucher programs, but D.C.'s will be the first to use federal funds and will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education. President Bush will likely ask for $50 million for vouchers next year.

In order to qualify for vouchers, a student's family must earn 185 percent of the federal poverty limit or less, which currently stands at $36,000 for a family of four. The legislation also gives preference to those students who are enrolled in public schools that are failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Presently there are 15 District schools that don't meet AYP standards, and the number is sure to grow next fall when more stringent rules are implemented. The District's public schools have about 70,000 students.

The Council for Exceptional Children is a strong opponent of the voucher program. The program robs money that could be better spent improving the District's public school system and essentially gives it to private schools. Because the voucher money will be used to allow students to attend private schools based on their public school's poor showing under NCLB, those schools that cannot meet NCLB criteria will continue to suffer. This means that special education programs in those schools will suffer as well. To read CEC's official position on vouchers, please go to: http://www.cec.sped.org/gov/voucherstatement2003.pdf

Opponents of the voucher program have vowed to continue fighting against it and say it was only included in the larger spending bill because it would not have passed on its own. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) wants to take the $13 million for voucher scholarships and give it to public schools. He and non-voting District Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) have stated that they plan to seek ways to repeal the vouchers before they are enacted. "Even after this vote, don't bank on vouchers coming to D.C.", Kennedy said. As CEC continues to closely monitor the voucher program, we will evaluate and make recommendations on behalf of any measures to repeal it in Congress in the coming months.

If you have any questions with regard to the District's voucher program, please contact Dan Blair at CEC at 703-264-9403 or danb@cec.sped.org.