D.C.’s controversial school voucher program is likely to be a casualty of the Democratic ascendancy in Congress.
The voucher program pays poor families to go to private schools in the District. It was a pet program of Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, chair of the Senate subcommittee that controls D.C.’s finances.
Brownback’s spokeswoman did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Critics say that the program undermined public education and has also failed to work properly. Few families have registered for the vouchers. Brownback had suggested raising the income requirement and expanding the program to suburban schools.
That’s unlikely to happen with the Democrats now in control. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is the senator most likely to take over the committee. She is a proponent of charter schools.
Landrieu’s spokesman, Adam Sharp, said Thursday that it was too early to weigh on that or any other program. But the five-year voucher demonstration is up for renewal in 2008, and Sharp said he hopes that Congress will “understand the lessons learned.”
In April, Congress will publish a study on how well students in the voucher program are performing.
“We will learn a great deal more about the academic side and whether the program was successful,” Sharp said.
