Stop DC Vouchers
Press release on temporary halt of school voucher legislation
September 30, 2003

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

September 30, 2003 
Contact: Melody Webb
202-276-9253

Stop D.C. Vouchers Applauds Temporary Halt of School Voucher Legislation, Urges Vigilance and Readiness to Resume the Fight!

Washington, D.C.-- Melody Webb, an attorney and director of Stop D.C. Vouchers, issued the following statement after the Senate's Tuesday debate on school voucher legislation for D.C., S. 1583, resulted in what many are calling a 'retreat' from the voucher legislation attached to the D.C. Fiscal Year 2004 budget bill.

As they were debating an $87 billion spending plan for Iraq, the Senate finally came to realize that pushing school vouchers in D.C. was an abuse of their duty to represent issues in the national interest. Today is a day of hope, real hope for the goal of real reform of public education in Washington, D.C. through the appropriate channel of local, democratic decision-making. 

We thank members of the public and of the Senate. Supporters of democracy and public education have staved off the school voucher plan in the Senate for the time being. Through its vigorous defense of public education as the bastion of equal opportunity for the most disadvantaged, the Senate has kept alive the hope that all of D.C.'s children can continue to benefit from reforms already underway. We are grateful that the United States Senate has beat back with a stick the attempts to rip apart the mangled flesh of home rule to which D.C. residents still cling. The Senate has halted attempts to suck out the life-blood of public education: a voucher plan that would drain away funding for needed school reform.

We applaud the Senate and urge American citizens to remain vigilant regarding this voucher legislation as it may rear its head in the federal budget bill in the coming days. Be prepared to go back to the drawing board to tell your Senators again to 'stop D.C. vouchers' and to get back to the nation's business, leaving local education policy to local D.C. officials. Stand ready to resume the fight. Stay tuned...