Washington, DC - A House-Senate Conference Committee today approved a $40 million plan to provide educational scholarships in a five-year pilot program for 2,000 students in troubled public schools in Washington, DC, and boost funding for other charter schools and public school programs in the city. The following is a statement by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) who helped negotiate the agreement.

"This is a worthy trial program. Washington, DC, has the third highest per pupil spending in the nation - $10,852 a year goes to the education of each child. Yet, it has 15 failing schools and some of the lowest test scores in the country.

The legislation in the omnibus bill would allow a 5-year trial program of providing up to $7,500 in scholarships for a child in a family of four earning under $35,000 a year.

That money can be used for tuition in any school of the parents' choice. They will be administered the same standardized tests that public school students in their grade level are given.

No money is taken from the public schools, as a matter of fact, $13 million is new money is provided to public schools and $13 million in new funds are added for public charter schools.

I believe that we will learn something from this program. The prejudices about vouchers run deep and are filled with emotion. The question is do children do better in different academic programs? And if they do, should they have access to these settings?

Today, only the well-to-do families who can afford private school tuition have that access.

For the next five years, some 2,000 students from failing schools will have that opportunity for one of these scholarships to go to the private school of the parents' choice. This is a worthy trial."