THE DAILY WHIP: FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016

Complete Consideration of H.R. 4901 – The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act (Rep. Chaffetz – Oversight and Government Reform) (One hour of debate).  The bill is a new attempt to reauthorize the only federally funded school voucher program in the country, DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program.  The House voted on a similar bill, H.R. 10, last October, and nearly all Democrats voted against it.  The vote on H.R. 10 can be found here. 

H.R. 4901 is substantially similar to H.R. 10.  The bill would reauthorize the District of Columbia private school voucher program, the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), for five years through 2021, and authorize $300 million over five years divided equally among OSP, DC public schools, and DC charter schools.  In 2004, Congress established OSP, the first and only federally created or funded elementary and secondary private school voucher program in the United States.  In 2011, Congress reauthorized OSP through fiscal year 2016 in the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR Act); that vote can be found here. Under the SOAR Act, DC households with incomes that do not exceed 185% of the poverty line may receive an annual maximum voucher payment per student of approximately $8,000 for grades K-8 and $12,000 for grades 9-12. 

Like H.R. 10, H.R. 4901 makes a significant change to the evaluation of OSP’s effectiveness. The bill prohibits a control study group in making evaluations of the OSP and requires a less rigorous “quasi-experimental research design” than under the SOAR Act.  Since 2004, almost $200 million has been spent on DC voucher schools.  That is money that could have been spent on District public schools, which serve all students.

Republican leadership is misleadingly using a letter from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and eight members of the DC Council as proof of their support for the voucher program.  The letter did not support the voucher program itself, but rather advocated for funding that DC public and charter schools could lose if H.R. 4901 is not passed.  The city officials that signed the letter recognize that Republicans in Congress have tied reauthorization of funding for DC public and charter schools to voucher funding.

Not only is it unnecessary to subject the District of Columbia to a unique federal voucher program, but the program has proven to be ineffective and has failed to improve academic achievement, as measured by math and reading test scores.  Additionally, the program has failed to improve the academic achievement of students from low-performing public schools. The SOAR Act also exempts OSP from federal civil rights laws that apply to public schools and federally funded programs.

Instead of working to address critical issues like the Flint water crisis, providing supplemental funding to combat the Zika virus which has been found in over 30 states, addressing criminal justice reform, or simply passing a budget, the Republican Majority is pushing its own education priorities on a local jurisdiction through this misguided legislation.  Members are urged to VOTE NO.

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for one hour of debate.

Bill Text for H.R. 4901:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 4901:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)