Members of Congress will soon have the opportunity to grantlow-income District of Columbia families the chance to choose wheretheir children attend school. If every Member who uses privateschools votes to give disadvantaged D.C. families the same access,the legislation will pass. In the past three years, every piece ofparental choice legislation would have passed if those whoexercised choice in their own families had voted with supporters ofschool choice.
The D.C. Parental Choice Incentive Act would enable low-incomeparents in the District of Columbia to enroll their children inprivate schools through a scholarship program administered by theU.S. Department of Education. The need for this reform is clear:Just 6 percent of D.C. 4th graders are proficient in math, and only10 percent are proficient in reading.
Some of the poorest performing public schools in America can befound in the nation's capital. Despite per-pupil expenditures ofmore than $11,000, 94 percent of 4th grade students in Washington,D.C., are not proficient in math, and 90 percent lack proficiencyin reading, according to the National Assessment of EducationalProgress (NAEP). Given the failure of other reforms to improve thecity's poor academic achievement and the growing recognition thatadditional funding alone will not improve the system, Congress hasan historic opportunity to support D.C. students by authorizing andfunding scholarships to give them access to quality schools.