The Patriot Post® · Give School Choice a Chance

Stephen Moore: “Mr. Obama proposed no funding next year for private school scholarship vouchers in the District of Columbia. The $20 million annual program, which began under George W. Bush, has proven extremely effective. Thousands of kids have benefited from these scholarships – which typically amount to about $8,000 to $10,000 a year. That’s still about one-third lower than what it costs to ‘educate’ students in the district’s public schools. Almost all students who get the money are blacks and Latinos. The decision by this White House to defund the D.C. voucher program is a disgrace. Every year, four times as many D.C. minority children sign up for the voucher program than there are funded slots available. Several years ago, when President Obama tried to shut down the program, black and Hispanic parents locked arms with Republicans in Congress who support the program and marched in front of the Capitol. That was an amazing optic. In the 1960s and 1970s, civil rights leaders and ‘community activists’ fought against laws that prevent blacks from getting in to the public schools. Now, liberals refuse to let them out. … Republicans must go on the offensive on school choice. A quality education is the best anti-poverty program ever invented. This is the best path to reducing income inequality. … Democrats are on the wrong side on this issue. They put unions ahead of kids. Let’s hope Republicans in Congress not only restore funding of this program but expand its budget so that every poor child in Washington, D.C., can get the education that Barack Obama’s daughters do.”