I’ve always found it ironic that D.C., the home of our nation’s government, has one of the lowest performing public school systems in the country.  Beginning in 2004, in response to this crisis, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program began awarding scholarships of up to $7,500 a year for over 1,700 public school students to attend private schools. Last year, research by the Department of Education concluded that there were no significant differences in the test scores of children who received the vouchers and attended private schools versus those who applied but did not receive them and attended public schools. So this one-of-a-kind federally funded program is now on the chopping block as Congress’ 2009 omnibus spending bill stipulates that any future funding (beyond the 2009-2010 school year) will require re-authorization by Congress as well as legislation by the District of Columbia. (Unlikely to happen at all, much less in under a year).

As you can imagine, many people are up in arms about this decision, and accuse Congressional democrats of preventing children from getting a good education. Personally, I think Congress is making the right move here. I have never supported voucher programs, and am glad President Obama’s administration clearly favors funding charter schools over vouchers. My reasoning can be summed up in one simple phrase: Public money for public schools. Period. There’s no question that many of our public schools are failing, and that our children deserve better, but sucking money out of public schools and giving it to private ones is not going to fix the problem. If private schools (many of whom are affiliated with wealthy and powerful religious organizations) are looking to increase enrollment and want to diversify their student body, then they should be responsible for raising funds privately to offer scholarships to students in need. In the meantime, we need to keep public school reform on the top of our nation’s priority list, which means keeping federal education funds where they belong.

takepart in learning more about how education chancellor Michelle Rhee is tackling the problem of D.C.’s failing public schools. Read a dissenting opinion about D.C.s voucher program here.

(Photo: Mr. Wright’s flickr photostream)