Last week, District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams shocked both voucher friends and foes when he came out publicly in support of an experimental D.C. voucher program. In February, when the White House released its 2004 budget proposal, which included funding for the D.C. voucher program, Mayor Williams, along with D.C. school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, criticized the Bush administration for attempting to impose vouchers on the District. [For more details about the Administration's proposal, go to http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=10#351.] Now he joins Ms. Cooper Cafritz as the second D.C. official to reverse that stance. This leaves Holmes-Norton alone in the unenviable position of defending the D.C. school system status quo and rejecting this chance to improve the educational opportunities for children living in the nation's capital.
"Williams endorses vouchers for schools," by Mary Shaffrey, The Washington Times, May 2, 2003
"A Mayor Breakthrough," editorial, The Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2003 (registration required)
"Mayor endorses vouchers in D.C.," by Craig Timberg and Justin Blum, The Washington Post, May 2, 2003