Legislative Affairs

Good afternoon, 

ASBO International signed onto a letter (attached) with The National Coalition for Public Education in opposition to HR 10, the "Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act." This bill, introduced by House Speaker and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), would reauthorize the Washington, D.C. School Voucher Program. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"The 56 undersigned organizations write to voice opposition to H.R. 10, the reauthorization of the District of Columbia private school voucher program. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures."

The coalition sent the letter to the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee yesterday afternoon as they take the bill into consideration. You can read the full text of the bill here and track its progress.

For information about vouchers and Title I portability, see this ASBOUSA blog. And to understand the other side of the issues, here is an alternative, pro-portability article from the Brookings Institute.

Thank you. 

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Elleka Watts
Government Affairs & Communications Coordinator
ASBO International
ewatts@asbointl.org
Reston, VA
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Good morning,

We have received news from POLITICO that the House is expected to pass the D.C. voucher bill today, which would allow "students from low-income families in the nation's capital to attend private schools on the taxpayer dime." While the bill is expected to pass the House, it will be more difficult to pass the Senate as "vouchers have some support from Democrats but have long been opposed by the majority of the party," and the bill would need 60 votes to pass.

The voucher program is reported as "dear to the speaker [Rep. John Boehner], who chaired the House education committee for several years starting in 2001, after being kicked out of House leadership." He has repeatedly fought to save the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program despite Democratic officials and the Obama administration's attempt to end it. "This fall, Democrats have heavily criticized the voucher bill as it began moving through the chamber in the days after Boehner announced his decision to leave Congress."

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), one of the Democratic officials who opposes the bill told POLITICO, "I would much rather see that money distributed among all the schools - that's it, it's simple as that." He said his concerns about the voucher bill might stem from attending a poorly funded Maryland elementary adjacent to a wealthy, majority-white school that had far more resources as a student, "...So you will never get me to say that taking money from the public school for a few is something I support. I just don't."

For more information on the bill and it's progress on Capitol Hill, see this article (POLITICO member access only). You can also track the bill's progress in Congress.gov. The House version is here and the Senate version is here.

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Elleka Watts
Government Affairs & Communications Coordinator
ASBO International
ewatts@asbointl.org
Reston, VA

Original Message:
Sent: 10-07-2015 15:47
From: Elleka Watts
Subject: ASBO International Opposes DC Voucher Bill, HR 10

Good afternoon, 

ASBO International signed onto a letter (attached) with The National Coalition for Public Education in opposition to HR 10, the "Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act." This bill, introduced by House Speaker and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), would reauthorize the Washington, D.C. School Voucher Program. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"The 56 undersigned organizations write to voice opposition to H.R. 10, the reauthorization of the District of Columbia private school voucher program. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures."

The coalition sent the letter to the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee yesterday afternoon as they take the bill into consideration. You can read the full text of the bill here and track its progress.

For information about vouchers and Title I portability, see this ASBOUSA blog. And to understand the other side of the issues, here is an alternative, pro-portability article from the Brookings Institute.

Thank you. 

------------------------------
Elleka Watts
Government Affairs & Communications Coordinator
ASBO International
ewatts@asbointl.org
Reston, VA
------------------------------

Good morning,

Last year, ASBO International worked with the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) to oppose HR 10, the "Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act," which would reauthorize the Washington D.C. school voucher program. While we were successful in preventing its reauthorization last year, some GOP House officials are trying to reauthorize it again in 2016 via HR 4901.

In response, ASBO International and NCPE are working together again in opposition to the D.C. voucher program. We signed onto a letter with NCPE on April 12, and have the document attached to this post. The letter argues that the D.C. voucher program fails to offer D.C. students better educational resources, greater opportunities for academic achievement, or adequate accountability to taxpayers. HR 4901 was was referred to and marked up by the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee this week and passed. However, it has not been introduced in the House for a full vote yet. Please stay tuned to the Legislative Affairs Community for further updates as we track the progress of this legislation. 

Thank you.

Good morning,

You may have seen in this morning's School Business Daily that the House passed HR 4901 to reauthorize Washington, D.C.'s schools voucher program. The House passed the bill on Friday, with a vote of 224-181. The Washington Post reports the bill would extend the voucher program until 2021 and is the "only federally funded, private school voucher program for K-12 students."

The article says that D.C. officials are divided on the issue: "Local D.C. leaders have long been against the voucher program, arguing that it diverts money and students away from the public school system. But federal funding for the local schools system is tied to the legislation, and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and some council members have expressed support for the bill." Also, The Washington Post found out via a 2012 investigation that there were significant quality controls with the D.C. vouchers program; many students used funds to attend unaccredited or unconventional schools, and the program lacked basic accountability and transparency measures.

The reauthorization bill has yet to go before the Senate for a vote, so please stay tuned to the Legislative Affairs Community for further alerts and advocacy updates. Thank you.

Good morning,

ASBO International is continuing to work with the National Coalition for Public Education (NCPE) in opposition to reauthorizing Washington D.C.'s, private school voucher program. Provisions to reauthorize the voucher program were included in the House Financial Services Committee's FY2017 appropriations bill (see page 190), which was marked up in late May. Shortly after, the House Appropriations Committee scheduled a markup for the bill on June 9. NCPE members, including ASBO International, sent a letter to House appropriators on June 7, urging officials to oppose the reauthorization of the D.C. voucher program. The letter is attached to this post. 

During the markup, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) offered an amendment to strike all D.C. voucher-related provisions from the appropriations bill, but unfortunately it did not pass. The appropriations bill, including the voucher language, passed with a 30-17 vote. For those who are interested in watching the webcast of the markup meeting, a recording is available here. Meanwhile, the Senate subcommittee markup of the FY2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill is scheduled for today at 10am, but we are still awaiting information about whether voucher language has been included in the Senate bill. (The markup will be webcasted live, here.)

Please stay tuned to the Legislative Affairs Community for further updates on this initiative. Thank you.