DC Council Rejects Vouchers for Washington DC

Who Opposes Vouchers:

Sept. 9 House approved school vouchers by one vote while 38 black members attended presidential debate in Baltimore. See How House Members voted on vouchers. coming soon!!! Transformation Schools information here.

D.C.Council and School Board Members Reject Vouchers for Washington D.C.

The following D.C. City Councilmembers are on record in opposition to vouchers

In 2003 these seven (of 13 total) Councilmembers affirmed their opposition to vouchers *

(Source: July 24, 2003 Council Chair Linda Cropp, Letter to Representative Frelinghuysen (D-N.J.), Chair, Representative Chaka Fattah, (D- Pa), Ranking Member, D.C. Appropriations Subcommittee.) See also Letter to select Members of the Senate. See Letter of Support to Sen. Kennedy.

D.C. Council Chair Linda Cropp

               Councilmember Carol Schwartz
               Councilmember Jim Graham
               Councilmember Phil Mendelson
               Councilmember Sandra Allen
               Councilmember Vincent Orange
               Councilmember Adrian Fenty

In 1998 these five (of 13 total) City Council members affirmed their opposition to vouchers*

(Source Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, Agenda 1998, an election year guid to gay and lesbian issues in the Nation's Capital, last revised July 14, 1998) .

D.C. Councilmember David Catania (due to church/state separation issues)

D.C. Councilmember Harold Brazil

D.C. Councilmember Kathy Patterson

D.C. Councilmember Sharon Patterson

D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans

D.C. City Councilmember Kevin Chavous is the only D.C. Councilmember to have publicly expressed support, and conditional on funding for public schools, for vouchers in D.C. (Source: Washington Times.) In 1998, Councilmember Chavous expressed opposition to vouchers. (Source Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, Agenda 1998, an election year guide to gay and lesbian issues in the Nation's Capital, last revised July 14, 1998) .

In 2003, these D.C. School Board Members affirmed their opposition to vouchers:

               Board of Education, Vice Chair, Mirian Saez
               Board of Education, Member, Dwight Singleton
               Board of Education, Member, Tommy Wells
               Board of Education, Member, William Lockridge

(Source: July 24, 2003 Council Chair Cropp, Letter to Representative Frelinghuysen

(D-N.J.),

COUNCIL LETTERS to the United States Congress Opposing Vouchers for Washington, D.C..

To Senator Dianne Feinstein and Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, D.C. Appropriations Subcommittee.

September 11, 2003

Senator Lincoln Chafee

141A Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Senator Arlen Specter

711 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senators:

We are writing in regards to S. 1583, the DC Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 2003. As you are aware, this bill currently contains $40 million for education in the District of Columbia, including $13 million each for private school vouchers, public charter schools, and public schools complying with the No Child Left Behind Act.

At every opportunity, proponents of vouchers have paraded the support of a few of our colleagues in the District government for this measure. Nonetheless, we are compelled to repeat that majorities of the Council, Board of Education, and residents of the District of Columbia continue to oppose the use of public money on private school vouchers.

The $13 million earmarked for vouchers will finance up to $7,500 in private school tuition for not more than 2,000 students, which is just 3 percent of the roughly 67,000 students in the District’s public school population. We propose that the portion marked for vouchers should instead be added to the amount appropriated to schools for compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act, so that a total of $26 million will go to public schools and $13 million to public charter schools. We believe that an amendment achieving this goal will improve the District’s most underperforming schools and will have a greater benefit for the city’s children.

Sincerely,

_____________________________ ______________________________

Councilmember Carol Schwartz Councilmember Adrian M. Fenty

______________________________ ______________________________

Councilmember Sandy Allen Councilmember Phil Mendelson

______________________________ ______________________________

Councilmember Vincent B. Orange, Sr. Councilmember Jim Graham

cc: Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

September 11, 2003

Senator Edward Kennedy

317 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Kennedy:

Sincerely,

______________________________ ______________________________

Councilmember Carol Schwartz Councilmember Adrian M. Fenty

______________________________ ______________________________

Councilmember Sandy Allen Councilmember Phil Mendelson

______________________________ ______________________________

Councilmember Vincent B. Orange, Sr. Councilmember Jim Graham

cc: Senator Thomas Daschle

Senator Mary Landrieu

Senator Richard Durbin

Senator Robert Byrd

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

July 22, 2003

Dear Senator Feinstein:

Thank you for your interest in the District of Columbia's educational system. I agree that public schools are the cornerstone of our education system and efforts must be made to strengthen our public schools. As you know, there are opportunities to improve our schools, and we welcome collaborative efforts to help us reach our goal of providing exemplary education to District students.

We in the District, recognize the need to overhaul our schools and believe school choice is essential to public education reform. But, each community must be permitted the freedom to decide the best vehicles for public education reform. Education advocates, teachers, parents and members of the Council of the District of Columbia have already determined that the best vehicles for reform is to offer charter schools and improve the public schools. That decision was codified with the enactment of D.C. Law 11-135, the "Public Charter Schools Act of 1996," passed by the Council on March 5, 1996.

Our charter school law endeavors to:

a.. Increase learning opportunities for all students;
b.. Encourage diverse approaches in learning and education, including appropriate and innovative use of technology;
c.. Provide parents and students with expanded choices in the types of public education opportunities available in the District;
d.. Hold charter schools and their teachers accountable for achieving student performance levels specified by their school charter;
e.. Provide public schools with a method to change from traditional rule-based to performance-based accountability systems; and
f.. Offer the community the option of independent public schools that are free of most statutes, rules and regulations. Charter schools appear to be working. This year, approximately 18% of public school children, or approximately 11,450 students, attend charter schools. This is among the highest percentage in the nation, and it is projected to increase. In addition, the District has more charter schools than any comparable jurisdiction in the country-35 in number. As you can see, choice already exists in the District of Columbia.
The Council believes that residents must be allowed to make their own education choices, that the will of the residents and local officials is to pursue educational reform and to provide alternatives for children, and that
the residents of the District should be allowed to resolve education issues locally as do other jurisdictions. Additional funds for public schools-regular and charter would be of greater assistance and would improve the
District's education system for all and not just for those who qualify for assistance.

Again, thank you for your interest in the District of Columbia. If I can be of further assistance or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 202-724-8032.

                                                           Sincerely,

                                                            Linda W. Cropp

                                                            Chairman

(Source: Courtesy of Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton at http://www.norton.house.gov/isssues2.cfm?id=6531)

July 24, 2003

TO:         The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen

               Chairman

               Appropriations Subcommittee on the District of Columbia

               2442 Rayburn House Office Building

               Washington, DC 20515

               The Honorable Chaka Fattah

               Ranking Member

               Appropriations Subcommittee on the District of Columbia

               2301 Rayburn House Office Building
               Washington, D.C. 20515

FROM:   Councilmember Carol Schwartz

               Councilmember Jim Graham

               Councilmember Phil Mendelson

               Councilmember Sandra Allen

               Councilmember Vincent Orange

               Councilmember Adrian Fenty

               Board of Education, Vice Chair, Mirian Saez

               Board of Education, Member, Dwight Singleton

               Board of Education, Member, Tommy Wells

               Board of Education, Member, William Lockridge

We very much appreciate Senate efforts to get additional funds for the
District of Columbia public schools. However, we are concerned about the
effect of a pending vouchers amendment to the D.C. appropriation. We
support recent efforts in the Senate to remove vouchers from the pending
Senate appropriation rather than linking funds for our public schools to
vouchers. It is important to recognize that the District of Columbia has
established two sets of publicly accountable alternatives: transformation
schools and charter schools.

First, three years ago, Superintendent Paul Vance established 15
transformation schools, among our lowest performing schools, attended by
many of our lowest income children. These children have scored the first
significant improvements in Stanford 9 achievement scores. Extra services
provided to parents and children alike, as well as new faculty, are largely
responsible for these gains. We hope you agree that these children in our
successful alternative public schools deserve first priority for federal
funding, especially now when the school system is making $40 million in cuts
because of budget pressures. These cuts will likely affect the continued
progress of children in the transformation schools. We believe that the
provision in the Senate appropriations bill for the D.C. public schools
would help shore up the loss of funds to transformation and other D.C.
public schools.

Second, the District of Columbia has established the largest number of
charter schools per capita in the country. However, these charter schools
are so popular that the city cannot keep up with the demand, particularly
for adequate facilities. Funds are urgently needed to provide these
facilities so that we can move children from warehouses and churches to
appropriate buildings, as the Senate bill would allow.

We do not believe that it is fair to place the District of Columbia at the
center of a debate on vouchers. We ask that you remove us from this
controversial debate by eliminating the voucher provision. This action
would go a long way toward freeing the D.C. appropriation while preserving
funds for the deserving students in our public and charter schools.

Thank you for your help in this important matter.

(Source: Courtesy of Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton at http://www.norton.house.gov/isssues2.cfm?id=6531)