D.C. School Vouchers Win Final Approval

By Spencer S. Hsu and Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 23, 2004; Page A01

Hundreds of children in the District will be able to attend private schools at taxpayer expense beginning this fall under a plan approved by the Senate yesterday.   The $14 million voucher program, which President Bush is expected to sign into law, will launch a five-year, federally funded experiment that will place the District at the forefront of the school-choice movement.  At least 1,700 low-income District children would be able to participate, each receiving grants of up to $7,500 to attend private schools. U.S. Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige and Mayor Anthony A Williams (D) will select an organization to run the program, a process that can begin now that the legislation has been approved.  There are about 79,000 students in District public schools, including an estimated 14,000 in charter schools, which are publicly funded but operate independently. While the experiment in vouchers will affect only a small number of students, the program will be scrutinized by education analysts, activists and many others on both sides of the issue.  Publicly funded voucher programs have been developed in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado, where there is a legal challenge. But the District's program differs because it is the first to receive federal funding and the only one that will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education.  For parents who have been looking for another alternative to the District public school system, which Williams recently called a "slow-moving train wreck," yesterday's vote offered a measure of hope.  "I would definitely look towards the private schools," said Joan Gibson, who has a 14-year-old son at Hardy Middle School in Northwest Washington and a 12-year-old son at Beers Elementary in Southeast. "They'd get more special attention."  Proponents of vouchers have long argued that the beneficiaries would be families, which now will have a choice among traditional public schools, public charter schools and private schools. Opponents say vouchers divert resources from public schools and could blur the separation between church and state because many of the private schools that will draw students have religious affiliations.  Yesterday's vote capped months of wrangling in Congress, which began considering vouchers for the District in 1995. City and federal officials must implement the program under a tight deadline and with many critical questions -- including how many private schools will be interested -- still unanswered.  City officials, private educators and school choice advocates acknowledged yesterday that many hurdles remain. One of the first priorities is awarding a contract to administer the program. The winner will develop guidelines and other requirements -- the critical information needed for private schools and parents interested in participating.  Private schools, some of which have early admission deadlines, may be asked to consider developing after-school care programs, tutoring and other services to help integrate voucher students. And parents, who have received virtually no information about such critical details as application rules, financial eligibility requirements and participating schools, must be informed about options for their children.  The legislation gives preference to students enrolled in public schools that are failing to make adequate yearly progress as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act. Based on last spring's test scores, 15 D.C. public schools were included in that category. That number will increase  significantly by next fall because of changes in the way progress is measured, school officials said.  Families will qualify for vouchers if they earn as much as 185 percent of the federal poverty limit, which is about $36,000 for a family of four.  The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which is expected to draw the most students, estimates it will have 1,378 slots available by fall, most of them in elementary schools. Other private schools have been waiting for the legislation to be approved before deciding whether to participate. And while city officials said the demand for vouchers is there -- and they are committed to using all the money appropriated -- they are unsure how many slots will be available in private schools.  The $14 million bill includes $1 million to cover the costs of administering the program. It also provides $13 million in additional funding to the charter schools and $13 million to the D.C. public school system. Williams and others insisted that the program include this extra allocation.  "I have confidence in the wisdom of parents to make the best choices for their children's education," Williams said after yesterday's vote. "It's government's job to provide the options."  The mayor's support for vouchers, which was critical on Capitol Hill, surprised and upset many in the city. Several officials sided with the mayor, among them D.C. Council member Kevin P. Chavous (D-Ward 7) and school board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz. But others remain staunchly opposed.  D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) accused Williams of abandoning home rule. "The mayor thought he was going to get a bucket of money," Fenty said. "He sold out cheap."  The voucher debate drew intense and partisan interest from national groups, which provided money and lobbied against and for the measure. The winners exulted yesterday, while the losers vowed to continue the fight in the District, in Congress and in the courts.  "This is the biggest education accomplishment in this city in 20 years," said Jeanne Allen, president of the pro-voucher Center for Education Reform, based in Washington.  At an anti-voucher rally after the vote, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said they would attempt to repeal the voucher program and send the money to public schools.  "Even after this vote, don't bank on vouchers coming to D.C.," Kennedy said.  The voucher program joins an already aggressive charter school alternative -- the proportion of District children attending charters is one of the highest in the country. Proponents of school choice argue that the combination of vouchers and charter schools should, by virtue of competition, improve the public schools.