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Major Areas State Education
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GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR MYTHS and FACTS
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| MYTHS AND DISTORTIONS | FACTS |
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1. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams is reacting to pressure by the White House and Department of Education to start a voucher program in exchange for receiving federal dollars for public and charter schools. |
In February 2003, Mayor Williams and Kevin Chavous, Chair of the District Council's Education Committee brought their ideas for a Three Sector Education Initiative (includes funding for public and public charter schools, and private school scholarships for low-income families) to the White House and the Department of Education (DOE). The White House and DOE agreed to work with city leadership on its plans for improving education and expanding options for District families. |
| 2. The federal government is "imposing" a voucher program on the District of Columbia, thus violating the Home Rule Charter. | There is no violation of Home Rule with this program because elected officials of Washington - Mayor Anthony Williams, School Board President Peggy Cooper-Cafritz and Council member Kevin Chavous are actively pursuing and supporting a school voucher program for the District, as are thousands of District families who are seeking a quality education for their children. |
| 3. City Council and Board of Education have voted against vouchers in the District | In April 2003, the City Council tabled a resolution by a vote of 12-1 that would have resulted in the council voting against the establishment of a voucher program in the District. The positions of the council and school board cited by opponents are actually votes against previous voucher bills before Congress. The Council has never voted against vouchers. |
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4. District residents do not want the program. |
Opponents cite a 1981 poll where District residents overwhelmingly voted against a tax credit plan for the District to be funded by local dollars. However, a 1998 poll conducted by the Washington Post found that 56% of District residents favored "using federal money in the form of vouchers to help send low-income students in the District to private or parochial schools." Only 36% were opposed. |
| 5. The District has not listened to the people of Washington. |
At a public hearing of the District's education
committee on School Choice in April 2003, 19 of 21 people who testified spoke in favor of establishing a school voucher program in D.C. Each year, more than 5,000 low-income families in the District apply for 1,200 scholarships offered through a privately funded scholarship fund. |
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6. A D.C. voucher program would take money away from public schools. |
Mayor Anthony Williams has increased funding to D.C. Public Schools by 57% during his tenure and remains strongly committed to public education. He and Kevin Chavous have gone on record indicating they will hold the District of Columbia Public Schools "harmless" for any local funds they might lose for students who might leave DCPS as a result of the proposed scholarship program. This means that DCPS will be able to keep dollars for children they are no longer required to educate and spend those dollars on necessary reforms, such as lowering class sizes, recruiting talented principals and teachers and contributing to the transformation of additional DC public schools. This coupled with $26 million in new funding being sought through this bill for both DCPS and charter schools is a net gain to public education. |
| 7. The scholarship program will only help a few children and is equivalent to abandoning the public schools and the majority of children they serve. | The scholarship program is one part of a carefully crafted education initiative to continue the reform of public schools and the build out of successful charter schools. The scholarship program will bring immediate educational relief to the families who are on long waiting lists for charter schools, transformation schools and out-of-boundary transfers and who can't wait for reform to get their children a good education today. The program is also designed to spur further reform in the public schools - as the scholarship program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has done. |
| 8. Charters and out-of-boundary program provide enough choice. | As Mayor Williams has said, you cannot have too many good educational options for our children. Thousands of D.C. families are on waiting lists for charter schools and out-of-boundary transfers, and spaces in those schools simply cannot open fast enough. Why should poor families - who often cannot afford to purchase private education or relocate to a neighborhood with a high performing public school - be made to wait on an education that meets their child's needs when parents with money and influence never would? Mayor Williams seeks a scholarship program to help these families now and level the playing field for their children, even as he continues to support reform in the public schools and expansion of the charter schools. |
| 9. Supporting vouchers in the District of Columbia will be the first step to starting a national voucher program. | District officials have no interest in pushing for a national voucher program. This effort is to establish a pilot program in the nation's capital only. Mayor Williams, D.C. Council Education Chair Kevin Chavous, and D. C. School Board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz - with the support of thousands of District families - are asking Congress to support a three-sector education initiative, crafted to meet the distinctive needs of the District of Columbia. Because of the District's unique relationship with Congress, and its lack of a state legislature, it is appropriate for locally-elected officials to seek assistance from Congress. |
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10. The plan before the Senate will not benefit the District of Columbia and its children. |
Currently the Senate Appropriation Bill for the District of Columbia will provide $13 million to public schools, $13 million for charter schools and $13 million for a scholarship program that will enable low-income families to send their children to private schools. The funding will support a Three Sector Education Initiative aimed at leveling the playing field for under resourced families. The effort, championed by Mayor Anthony Williams, Councilmember Kevin Chavous, School Board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz and their many supporters, is focused on expanding education options among traditional public, charter and nonpublic schools to ensure all children in the District of Columbia receive the very best education possible in a school of their parents' choice. |
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