Sec. 2. Findings; purpose

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Congress finds the following: Parents are best equipped to make decisions for their children, including the educational setting that will best serve the interests and educational needs of their children. In 1995, Congress passed the DC School Reform Act, which granted the District of Columbia the authority to create public charter schools and gave parents greater educational options for their children. In 2003, in partnership with the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the chairman of the DC Council Education Committee, and community activists, Congress passed the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 ( Public Law 108–199 ; 118 Stat. 126), to provide opportunity scholarships to parents of students in the District of Columbia to enable them to pursue a high-quality education at a private elementary or secondary school of their choice.

The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (DC OSP) was part of a comprehensive three-part funding arrangement that provided additional funds for both the District of Columbia public schools and public charter schools of the District of Columbia. The intent behind the additional resources was to ensure both District of Columbia public and charter schools continued to improve. In 2011, Congress enacted the three-part funding arrangement when it reauthorized the DC OSP and passed the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results

(SOAR)Act (division C of Public Law 112–10 ) with bipartisan support. While the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that per pupil expenditure for public schools in the District of Columbia is the highest in the United States, performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress

(NAEP)continues to be near the bottom of the country when examining scores in mathematics and reading for fourth and eighth grades. When Congress passed the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, students in the District of Columbia ranked 52 out of 52 States (including the Department of Defense schools). Since that time, the District of Columbia has made significant gains in mathematics and reading. However, students in the District of Columbia still rank in the bottom three States out of 52 States. According to the 2013 fourth grade math NAEP results, 34 percent of students are below basic, 38 percent are at basic, and 28 percent are at proficient or advanced. The 2013 fourth grade reading results found that 50 percent of fourth grade students in the District of Columbia are at or below basic, 27 percent are at basic, and 23 percent are proficient or advanced. Since the inception of the DC OSP, there has been strong demand for the program by parents and the citizens of the District of Columbia. In fact, 74 percent of District of Columbia residents support continuing the program (based on the Lester & Associates February 2011 Poll). Since the program’s inception, parental satisfaction has remained high. The program has also been found to result in significantly higher graduation rates for those students who have received and used their opportunity scholarships. The DC OSP offers low-income families in the District of Columbia important educational alternatives while public schools are improved. The program should continue to be reauthorized as part of a three-part comprehensive funding strategy for the District of Columbia school system providing equal funding for public schools, public charter schools, and opportunity scholarships for students to attend private schools. It is the purpose of this Act to amend the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act to provide low-income parents residing in the District of Columbia with expanded educational opportunities for enrolling their children in other schools in the District of Columbia, and provide resources to support educational reforms for District of Columbia Public Schools and District of Columbia public charter schools.

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Pub. L. 108-199
118 Stat. 126
Pub. L. 112-10

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Sec. 2

Findings; purpose

Pub. L.Pub. L. 108-199

Stat.118 Stat. 126

Pub. L.Pub. L. 112-10

Cites 3Cited by 0 across 0 sources