Senate Appropriations Committee Approves DeWine-Feinstein Amendment Allowing DC to Launch Pilot Voucher Program
September 4, 2003

Washington, DC - The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee today approved an amendment sponsored by Senators Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to the DC Appropriations bill to allow the District of Columbia to launch a pilot program that would offer low-income parents choice in where to send their children to school.

The program has the support of Mayor Anthony Williams, the President of the DC Board of Education, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, and thousands of District parents. The program would provide scholarships up to $7,500 to pay for tuition, fees, and transportation to any private school in the district. Scholarships would go to children whose parents earn less than 185 percent of the poverty level ($34,040 for a family of four), and priority would be given to students in the worst schools. No money would be taken from the public schools to fund this program.

"When this Committee last met in July, I said I was inclined to support Mayor Anthony Williams request for a five year pilot program that would offer low-income parents in the District a choice in where they send their children to school," Senator Feinstein said. "I appreciate the extra time we were given to take a closer look at this language, and the opportunity to work with my colleagues on the Committee to address some of my concerns.

It was important to me to have a chance to scrub this language to look at the Constitutional safeguards, the criteria, the monitoring, and all the components of this proposal, so that in voting for this legislation we would have a full understanding of what it would mean. I wanted to make sure that if I was going to back the Mayor's request that this proposal would pass Constitutional muster as it relates to the separation of church and state, and that it closely followed the Supreme Court's decision in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.

I also wanted to ensure that the District would have a fair method of acceptance for students using vouchers in private and parochial schools and that there would be full accountability and sufficient oversight. Based on my discussions with Mayor Williams and the subsequent changes reflected in the DeWine-Feinstein amendment to the bill, I am pleased to support the DC voucher proposal and allow the District to give this program a chance to work. However, I am concerned that the Senate Bill won't be the final bill, and I reserve the right to vote against the Conference Report should these amendments be omitted."

The $13 million pilot program is part of a larger effort to dramatically improve the District's education system, including a $13 million effort to improve student achievement and teaching at public schools and a $13 million grant program to renovate the District's charter school program.

The DeWine-Feinstein amendment modifies the underlying legislation establishing the program by:

• Making it Constitutional. The amendment adds religion to the general nondiscrimination clause (which also covers race, color, national origin, and sex) and extends the nondiscrimination clause to both schools and the entity in charge of the voucher program, but does not change existing law permitting schools to give preference to members of the clergy for certain administrative and faculty positions.



• The amendment removes language explicitly allowing vouchers to be used for religious purposes and substitutes language that ensures that the bill is consistent with the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which ensures separation of church and state.
  

• In addition, the amendment revises the findings of the bill to make them better track the Supreme Court's decision in the leading voucher court opinion (Zelman v. Simmons-Harris), particularly by emphasizing that the funding is designed to give low-income parents genuine, independent, and enhanced choice in educational opportunities for their children.

• Increasing Mayoral Accountability. The amendment requires the Secretary of Education and Mayor Williams to enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding the design and implementation of the voucher program, including the creation and selection of an entity to run the program. This change ensures that the mayor has input in all aspects of the voucher program and can be held accountable.



• Helping Ensure that Voucher Money is Not Used Improperly. The amendment requires that the entity in charge of the voucher program ensure that participating schools use the funds received effectively.
  

• Requiring Testing of Students. The amendment requires that voucher students receive comparable academic assessments as those provided to their peers in D.C. public schools. This helps ensure that, after five years, it can be determined if the voucher program improved academic excellence.



• Making it clear that the program does not set a precedent for future school choice programs.

"Washington, D.C., schools spend $10,800 per student, and there still is a very high rate of failure. I have begun to rethink public education, and I think we spend too much time supporting old structures and not enough time on what works for children," Senator Feinstein said. "If we look at what works for children, we would probably agree that different models have to be provided, because what works for one child may not necessarily work for another."

"Ultimately this issue is not about ideology or political correctness. It is about providing a new opportunity for good education, which is the key to success. Unless a youngster has learned the fundamentals of education, he or she will find it extremely difficult to learn when older, and finally to find work in what is increasingly a competitive marketplace. If supporting the Mayor's proposal will help us to better understand what works and what doesn't in terms of educating our youth, then I believe Mayor Williams should be allowed to undertake this experiment."

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