The Democratic Party
claims to champion diversity and equity, especially for disadvantaged populations, but too often, its policies prove otherwise. Democrats’ opposition to
school choice
, for example, undermines opportunities for low-income, underserved children to achieve the same academic excellence as higher-income students. But despite widespread support for education freedom policies among Democratic voters and calls from within the party itself to change its stance, the Democratic Party remains belligerent to the needs of families.
Crucial votes next month, however, provide congressional Democrats the perfect opportunity to come around and prove their commitment to equity, right here in the nation’s capital.
SCIENCE LOSES IN MONTANAN COURT
Before leaving for the August recess, House Republicans introduced a measure to the appropriations bill that would boost funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a critical scholarship that gives vouchers to low-income families to send their children to better-performing private schools. The average income of a scholarship recipient’s family is $21,830 per year, with nearly half of recipient families receiving some kind of government assistance for food and healthcare as well. The program overwhelmingly benefits minority families — 80% of recipients are black, and 12% are Hispanic.
House Republicans want to increase funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to $26.25 million from $17.5 million. To do this, they have proposed restructuring the funding for D.C.’s education system. Historically, Congress has evenly split funds from the federal Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act among the district’s charter schools, public schools, and the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Under Republicans’ proposal, half of SOAR’s funding would go toward the Opportunity Scholarship Program, with the other half split between D.C.’s charter and public schools.
Predictably, Democratic officials have come out against the proposal, accusing Republicans of trying to gut D.C.’s public education system. But opponents of the measure are ignoring facts.
First, D.C.’s public education system is far from underfunded. Its public schools are still sitting on nearly $200 million in additional money given during the pandemic by Congress.
As of last October
, D.C.’s public education system had spent just 3% of it.
Second, the Opportunity Scholarship Program has been level-funded for years, so inflation has eaten away at its value. This means the program can serve fewer students than intended. During the 2020-21 school year, the Opportunity Scholarship Program was able to award vouchers to 1,870 students. This year, it expects to be able to finance just 1,300 students.
This drop comes despite massive interest in and support for the program among D.C. residents. Last year, the program received 3,000 applications, a number that grows each year. No wonder: 91% of program recipients are accepted to two- or four-year colleges or universities, compared to just 39% of D.C. public school graduates.
Third, House Republicans’ proposed restructuring is far from unprecedented. During the Obama administration, congressional Democrats introduced their own such restructuring, allocating $20 million to D.C.’s charter schools and $13 million to the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Democrats’ goal was to whittle down the program and force it eventually to shutter.
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Democrats are still working toward that goal. In 2021, before Republicans took back the House, the Appropriations Committee announced that it intended to phase out the program by allowing existing recipients to continue to receive funds but preventing new students from enrolling. Luckily, House Democrats’ efforts did not survive the Senate.
Democrats’ frequent opposition to the Opportunity Scholarship Program does not inspire much hope that this year’s vote on funding will be different than years past. They have an opportunity to prove us wrong, but unfortunately, they are more likely to prove once again that D.C.’s families deserve better representatives.
