Rep. Howard P. “Buck" McKeon (R-CA), the senior Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today joined House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) in introducing the Preserving DC Student Scholarships Act. Boehner, McKeon, and Issa have voiced their strong support for this innovative and successful program and are fighting to keep scholarships flowing to low-income D.C. families. Just last month, the Department of Education released a study that showed significant achievement gains among students in the program and continued high levels of parental satisfaction.
“The DC Opportunity Scholarship program has provided thousands of underprivileged children with an excellent education and a chance for a better, brighter future," said McKeon. “This bill will ensure these children, and many more, have the chance to receive these life-changing scholarships and reach their fullest academic potential."
The Preserving DC Student Scholarships Act continues the successful program for an additional five years while making a few improvements. The bill increases funds for parents and students to help with the application and transition into the new school. It also ensures that schools participating in the program comply with health and safety codes and teaching standards in the District of Columbia. In addition, it allows the Secretary of Education the ability to increase scholarship amounts based on inflation to maintain scholarship value for students. Importantly, the bill improves the program evaluation in order to give policymakers better information about how these scholarships impact participating students.
“This legislation is vital to building on the success this program has already fostered in its first five years," said McKeon. “Allowing the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program to be eliminated would be a grave injustice to the children in the program and to the many more who hope to one day benefit from it as well."
For more information on Republican efforts to expand parental choice in education, please visit the Education and Labor Committee Republican website.
