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Flypaper

New legislation on DC OSP

New legislation on DC OSP
7.31.2009

Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. If the vote were held today, I suspect that the bill would be defeated by a relatively large margin in the Senate, say 60-40 (likely even larger in the House). What I'm interested in is how effective the program advocates will be in changing votes.

The IES????evaluation finding positive results????should help their cause. This new????poll is certainly germane. Maybe they also point out that both the president and his first Supreme Court nominee attended private schools.

While it's true that most elected officials have fully baked positions on vouchers and therefore are unlikely to change their minds, some additional votes are gettable and those stubbornly opposed to the program should nevertheless be made aware of the human consequences of their opposition.

Needless to say, I'm wholeheartedly rooting for the program's proponents. Until every DC public school is excellent, we shouldn't shy away from giving low-income families other options.

Tags: Opportunity Scholarship Program Supreme Court of the United States United States Senate Washington
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