The Archdiocese of Washington is decrying the Obama administration’s decision to shut down the D.C. Public Schools voucher program, which subsidizes the tuition of hundreds of low-income students attending Catholic schools.

The voucher program, at the end of its initial five-year pilot phase, is to be eliminated under a budget provision offered by congressional Democrats and backed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. This year will be the program’s last — unless Congress is willing to put money in the budget to at least allow the current scholarship recipients to complete their educations.