Press Releases

Washington, D.C.-- Melody Webb, an attorney and director of Stop D.C. Vouchers, issued the following statement after the Senate's Tuesday debate on school voucher legislation for D.C., S. 1583, resulted in what many are calling a 'retreat' from the voucher legislation attached to the D.C. Fiscal Year 2004 budget bill.

As they were debating an $87 billion spending plan for Iraq, the Senate finally came to realize that pushing school vouchers in D.C. was an abuse of their duty to represent issues in the national interest. Today is a day of hope, real hope for the goal of real reform of public education in Washington, D.C. through the appropriate channel of local, democratic decision-making.

We thank members of the public and of the Senate. Supporters of democracy and public education have staved off the school voucher plan in the Senate for the time being. Through its vigorous defense of public education as the bastion of equal opportunity for the most disadvantaged, the Senate has kept alive the hope that all of D.C.'s children can continue to benefit from reforms already underway. We are grateful that the United States Senate has beat back with a stick the attempts to rip apart the mangled flesh of home rule to which D.C. residents still cling. The Senate has halted attempts to suck out the life-blood of public education: a voucher plan that would drain away funding for needed school reform.

We applaud the Senate and urge American citizens to remain vigilant regarding this voucher legislation as it may rear its head in the federal budget bill in the coming days. Be prepared to go back to the drawing board to tell your Senators again to 'stop D.C. vouchers' and to get back to the nation's business, leaving local education policy to local D.C. officials. Stand ready to resume the fight. Stay tuned...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2003
Contact: Melody Webb
202-276-9253

Stop D.C. Vouchers Urges Flood of Email To Key Senators, Support for Senator Kennedy and Praise for

D.C. Councilmembers, Who are Standing up to Congressional Bullies Pushing School Vouchers

on a Disenfranchised City

Senate To Begin Debate on Vouchers as early as Wednesday,This Week!

Washington, D.C.-- As early as today, the United States Senate is expected to begin debate on S. 1583, congressional voucher legislation for Washington, D.C.. A vote could occur as early as Wednesday. Senator Edward Kennedy is leading the charge to protect the mission of public education - to give a publicly accountable education to all children - not a select few, as would the congressional voucher proposal to fund 1,300 voucher students with each up to $7,500 taxpayer-funded grants for use in private schools.

Stop D.C. Vouchers director Melody Webb indicates that "Senator Kennedy continues the tradition of championing civil rights for the disadvantaged by opposing the measure to implement vouchers in D.C.. The voucher bill exists because D.C. residents lack full self governance and voting representation in Congress, and because Congress exercises oversight of the District of Columbia's budget - a role it plays over no other political jurisdiction in the country"

As of this week, Ms. Webb advises voucher opponents to target the following Senators: Biden, Nelson, Bayh, Collins, Snowe, Dayton, Conrad, Dorgan, Nelson, Leahy, Pryor, Miller, Breaux, Feingold, and Carper. Stop D.C. Vouchers allows email to these members from its website.

Stop D.C. Vouchers urges public school supporters to flood the phone lines, fax machines and the email boxes of members of the Senate. "First, call 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121. Second, visit http://www.stopdcvouchers.com/stopdcvoucherstellsenate.htm to send email. We urge those of you who have sent one or two emails, to please email your Senators once more. The more often they hear from you the better. Better still, from our website, you may email any and all 100 Senators."

Melody Webb, an attorney, a DCPS parent and graduate, founded Stop D.C. vouchers, which has been organizing parents and supporters of vouchers nationwide through both a grassroots and internet campaign has launched the 'Email 100' push to stop D.C. voucher legislation. "Email your Senator and email them all. If you are a D.C. resident, aim to email all 100. It takes approximately 10 minutes."

The District of Columbia's budget is a popular vehicle for congressional policymaking for the city that lacks full self governance and voting representation in the House and the Senate.

In contradiction to the claim that members of Congress are acting at the behest of D.C. residents in seeking the voucher measure, last week members of the D.C. City Council wrote the Senate leadership condemning the voucher push. "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 signers of the letter included Councilmembers Adrian Fenty, Vincent Orange, Carol Schwartz, Phil Mendelson, Jim Graham, and Sandy Allen. See the full text of the letter

Vouchers are bad policy for several reasons.

*Voucher schools are totally lacking in accountability for discrimination on religion, gender, sexual orientation and disability grounds. Voucher schools provide no quality assurance guarantees and are not subject to regulation on any substantial number of measures."

*Voucher proponents argue that vouchers will give poor children greater choice. Some quality choice does exist in 42 charter schools and numerous model programs. To expand choice in D.C., Congress should fully fund the existing model programs of DCPS and replicate them -- Montessori programs, bilingual programs. If the private schools employ exemplary academic practices, let’s copy them – starting now. If the private schools want to pitch in, they can lend us their best and brightest teachers and administrators.

*If congressional leaders want to do their part, they should hold off on vouchers and aid the proliferation of model programs and permit public schools to implement the lessons they are already learning under the one year old federal No Child Left Behind law, a model of public school accountability. Let’s use the archetypal strategies of the private schools in the public schools. Let’s import the academic models, not export our children. We can copy their work; but private entities will never imitate our mission.

*Taxpayer funded tuition grants for private schools – vouchers – signal giving up on the public schools, sending children away to private alternatives. These entities can teach us a lot. However, they can only do this by working with the public schools, not trying to supplant them. For, their purpose is not public– to serve all students, from every walk of life. In a voucher scheme, it is not the District’s children, but private schools that will be able to pick and choose.

*Vouchers do not work. A Government Accounting Office report issued under this administration says so. Vouchers do not spark improvements through competition; vouchers do wage a war of attrition against public funds available for public schools.

*When vouchers draw students away, taking funding that pays for staff and services used by the children that remain -- vouchers are not spurring improvements; vouchers are wielding damage. A teacher's aid is not lost just to that voucher student who leaves, the aid is lost to the other children left in the class. A school nurse is not lost just to that voucher student who leaves; but to an entire school, likely in communities that lack adequate health care already. To them, this will be a double blow".

*Vouchers do not hold private schools accountable for raising test scores -- look at Milwaukee and Florida. Vouchers provide public funding for religious instruction.

*Vouchers can not and are not universally available to all children and are fundamentally unfair for providing an 'out' for a select few, while leaving in D.C.'s case 67,000 children. Vouchers make no investment in the public programs that do work.

*The way to spur improvements in public schools through competition is through the use of programmatic expansion awards that are given out to schools by way of a competitive grant-making process. The way it would work is this: by establishing outcomes, soliciting proposals from top public schools to expand their programs and awarding grants to the winners, who will successfully replicate the best practices of their own and model private and charter schools. That is how you expand choice in Washington, D.C..

Sept 15, Stop DC Vouchers Announces 'Listen to DC' Campaign.

Website Allows Email to Senate; urges Senate Leadership to Stop Vouchers and Listen to DC Email

Senate May Vote on Vouchers This Week

PDF Version

Washington, D.C. - The full U.S. Senate could vote on voucher legislation this week. The voucher bill is on a fast track. A Senate committee passed a $13 million voucher plan for D.C.. on September 3. The House of Representatives last week approved a $10 million plan for 1,300 D.C. children, with no provisions for the other 60,000 children in D.C.'s public school system. The D.C. City Council and D.C. School Board oppose school vouchers as do most D.C. residents. In response, Stop D.C. Vouchers announces its website-based email campaign to the Senate on two fronts: to express opposition to school vouchers and to protest the failure of Congress to welcome email from the city's residents, even as the Congress exercises legislative and fiscal oversight over D.C..

Today, Melody Webb, an attorney who heads Stop D.C. Vouchers, and a D.C. Public Schools parent released the following statement regarding the fast track movement of D.C. voucher legislation in Congress:

This week, the United States Senate may take advantage of the political disenfranchisement of D.C.'s 570,000 residents, and vote on a tragic education plan for a poor, African American school district, most certainly to be the first of many so afflicted across the nation if the voucher measure in Congress succeeds. The public can help put a stop to that, by visiting www.stopdcvouchers.org/stopdcvoucherstellsenate.htm and by emailing their Senators from the website with our letter or their own.

To add a gag to the shackles, Congress, in response to D.C. residents who attempt to complain about vouchers by using email, often rejects the email or discourages the communication, telling their de facto constituents that the member of Congress will only listen to those who elect them. This, in the face of the claim that the Senators and Congressmen claim to be acting in the interests of D.C. residents, and of their children in seeking to impose school vouchers. How does Congress know what those interests are, if they will not listen to D.C. residents? Why are they willing to listen to those who elect them, whose interests they also serve? The undeniable truth is that the only Americans who have a voice in Congress are those with voting members. D.C. residents lack this; D.C. residents need this.

You can do something about stopping vouchers and about the lack of voice D.C. has in Congress. We announce the "Listen to DC" campaign, where members of the public, using an email form with our letter or their own, can demand of select members of the Senate leadership that until such time as they stop interfering in the affairs of D.C. and grant the residents of D.C. full self governance and their own voting representatives in the Senate and the Congress, that they should welcome, encourage and solicit the opinions of D.C. residents to the same extent as they do the opinions of those who represent them. To write these members visit www.listentodc.com/listentodcemail.htm.

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Call to Action

Please call your member of Congress at (202)224-3121 and ask the Capitol Switchboard Operator to connect to your Congressman in the House and your Senator. Tell them to vote 'no' on D.C. vouchers. Visit http://www.lobbyline.com/VouchcallSenate.htm for more information on this issue and additional contact information for select members of Congress.

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Sept 3, D.C. Democracy Activists Denounce Voucher Plan for D.C.

Urge Community and Congress To Oppose Voucher Legislation Where Vote Scheduled

This Week in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate

PDF Version

Washington, DC-- Leaders of the diverse movement for full self governance and voting rights for D.C. today in a joint letter denounced the voucher plan in Congress and urged Congressional members in the House and the Senate to vote against legislation to institute the proposal.

Anise Jenkins, president of the activist group Stand Up! for Democracy in D.C. Coalition, stated "We fully support and praise congressional leaders in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives who are standing up for D.C.'s right to make its own education policy according to the will of the residents of D.C. and the principals of self governance and full democracy. The voucher plan being pushed by ideologues in Congress exemplifies an abrogation of local decision and policy making."

"We stand on the brink of a watershed moment in the history of public education. Congressional leadership must step up to the plate and discharge its duty to protect the most vulnerable by fighting for public education, not abandoning public education in favor of a voucher white elephant. When 2,000 students leave my children's school system for vouchers, $20 million will walk away with them. If this voucher bill is passed, it will be the first time that federal money will be used for a voucher scheme, and it will become the justification for federal funding of private schools across the country" said Melody Webb, a D.C.P.S. parent speaking on behalf of Stop D.C. Vouchers and the Leave D.C. Alone D.C. Democracy campaign.

"As residents and organizations that work on behalf of full democracy for Washington, D.C., we fight for the rights of the most disenfranchised citizens of this country, on a platform of full voting representation in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, as well as full self governance for Washington, D.C.. We now want to express our outraged opposition to the congressional plan under consideration to institute a taxpayer-funded, private school voucher program for Washington, D.C., " stated Michele Tingling Clemmons, a D.C. Public Schools parent speaking on behalf of D.C. Statehood Green Party and the Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington.

The D.C. voucher proposal was tabled before the summer recess of Congress and is expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives on September 4th. The Senate version of the bill failed to leave the Senate Appropriations committee. The voucher plan, which passed Rep. Tom Davis' (R- Va.) Government Reform committee by a margin of only one vote, has been presented in the Senate as a 'rider' attached to the D.C. Appropriations bill, a popular vehicle for Congress to get passed their own legislative proposals that are unpopular with D.C. residents. Included with the voucher plan in the Appropriations bill are several other objectionable amendments that are opposed by D.C. elected officials and residents.

Voucher opponents are urged to call select members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate in an effort to prevent a voucher plan.

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Sept 2, Local D.C. Parent-led Group Launches 'Call Congress
Campaign' to Stop D.C. Vouchers in U.S. House, U.S. Senate

PDF Version

Washington, DC- Stop D.C. Vouchers today launched their 'Call Congress Now! Campaign' to mobilize local D.C. residents and supporters from across the country to stop an unpopular congressional plan to institute school vouchers for 2,000 children in D.C. The legislation for D.C. vouchers is scheduled for a vote on the floor of the House this week.

Headed by D.C.P.S. parent and graduate Melody Webb, Stop D.C. Vouchers has been working since the Spring to thwart vouchers for D.C.. Webb, an attorney and public education reformer, stated "the time is now for public education supporters like no other time to step forward and be counted, raising their voices in protest against this first step toward the destruction of public education in America as we know it. Today D.C., tomorrow - the rest of the urban minority public school districts around the country. We stand on the brink of a watershed moment in the history of public education. Public school parents and supporters must act now! If this voucher bill is passed, it will be the first time that federal money will be used for a voucher scheme, and it will become the justification for federal funding of private schools across the country."

The D.C. voucher proposal was tabled before the summer recess of Congress and is expected to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives on September 4th. The Senate version of the bill failed to leave the Senate Appropriations committee. The voucher plan, which passed Rep. Tom Davis' (R- Va.) Government Reform committee by a margin of only one vote, has been presented in the Senate as a 'rider' attached to the D.C. Appropriations bill, a popular vehicle for Congress to get passed their own legislative proposals that are unpopular with D.C. residents. Included with the voucher plan in the Appropriations bill are several other objectionable amendments that are opposed by D.C. elected officials and residents.

Voucher opponents are urged to call select members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate in an effort to prevent a voucher plan.

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July 17, Senate Voucher Proponents Hold the D.C. Appropriations Bill Hostage to Get School Vouchers Passed PDF Version

Washington, DC-Stop D.C. Vouchers expresses outrage toward Senate ideologues who today used a school voucher amendment to hold the D.C. budget bill hostage. The Senate Appropriations Committee said that the bill will not come up again for a vote until late next week.

The voucher plan, which originates with Rep. Tom Davis' Government Reform committee, has been presented in the Senate as a 'rider' attached to the D.C. Appropriations bill, a popular vehicle for Congress to get passed their own legislative proposals that are unpopular with D.C. residents. Included with the voucher plan in the Appropriations bill are several other objectionable amendments that are opposed by D.C. elected officials and residents.

"As was predicted, the voucher legislation came up as an add-on to D.C.'s budget bill. This is how it always goes. They blackmail the city's neediest residents who depend on the budget for critical services to extract their own legislative agenda. The plan is to hold up approval of D.C.'s locally funded-budget, until voucher opponents cry 'uncle,' and give in" states Webb, a District of Columbia Public Schools parent and graduate and director of Stop D.C. Vouchers, an effort mobilizing pro-public education advocates to fight the voucher push. Webb also runs 'Leave D.C. Alone', an initiative to draw attention to the congressional riders attached to D.C.'s congressionally reviewed budget.

"The plan is to push this voucher initiative through under the threat of delaying services for D.C.'s children, mentally ill and elderly. Certain members of Congress repeatedly stoop to tying up our much needed locally raised dollars to get their way in D.C.. It's despicable; it's un-American that we can not spend our own locally raised tax dollars as we wish until Congress says. It is telling: if the conservatives pushing this voucher plan really cared about D.C.'s children, they would give their parents full democratic rights to run the school system without congressional interference so that public education can get the support that it needs. This is why we need not only a single vote in Congress, not only two Senators and a Congressman, but full democracy - self governance and representation in Congress - so that we are no longer vehicles for this ideological agenda of some members of Congress." states Webb.

"Hooray for the Senate for taking a stand against vouchers. The Senate should not be forced to choose between vouchers (or any other nefarious riders) and smooth passage of D.C.'s budget. The Senate is our hope, where because we have no representation, we must call upon members like Senator Mary Landrieu to stave off this voucher plan. We look to the Senate for a reasoned and responsive approach to what residents of D.C. are saying about vouchers. In accordance with what we really want, the Senate should say no to this voucher plan and allow the D.C. budget bill to pass through Congress" says Melody Webb.

Voucher opponents are urged to call the following members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to oppose a voucher program for D.C. by supporting ALL amendments against vouchers in the D.C. Appropriations bill: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) (224-5824), Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mt.) at 224-2644, Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) at 224-5721 Sen. Ben Campbell (R-Co) at 224-5852 and Sen Arlen Specter (R-PA) (202-224-4254).

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July 15 - STOP D.C. VOUCHERS TO REDOUBLE ANTI-VOUCHER EFFORTS IN FACE OF HOUSE PANEL VOTE FOR DC VOUCHERS PDF Version

Anti- Voucher Advocates Call Disappointing but Not Devastating House Panel Vote Approving DC Voucher Plan

Washington, D.C. -- Stop D.C. Vouchers calls disappointing but not devastating the vote by U.S. House of Representatives Government Reform Committee July 10th that narrowly approved the school voucher bill, HR-2556,
by a vote of 22 to 21 almost strictly along partisan lines. The bill is the second of the 108th Congress to seek a voucher program for D.C. This bill, authored by Rep.Tom Davis (R-Virginia) succeeds the first by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona).

The legislation would provide $15 million to create a taxpayer-funded private school tuition program for 2,000 children; there is an estimated 80,000 children in Washington, D.C.'s system of traditional and charter public schools. The bill will now likely proceed to the floor of the House for a vote. Many expect that the Republican-dominated House will pass the
bill. "It is a travesty for our city's children that the will of their heavily Democratic, African American parents will be overridden by that of the Republican-dominated Congress. What are we teaching our children?" states Stop D.C. Vouchers.

"This vote is clearly a blow to our anti-voucher efforts. We are bowed but not beaten. This vote on Rep. Tom Davis' bill, HR-2556, gives our effort momentum, bringing home to public education supporters like never before the fact that we are fighting for the life of public education. It brings home to home rule advocates like never before that we are fighting for the life of home rule. We are determined to keep fighting until Congress listens to us" Stop D.C. Vouchers indicates.

The House panel on the 10th rejected an amendment to HR- 2556 that would have provided supplemental funding to traditional public and charter schools. The panel also voted down an amedment aimed at ensuring accountability measures were included in the voucher plan.

At the local level, on Wednesday, July 10 Councilmember Adrian Fenty along with Councilmembers Cropp and Mendelson scrapped plans to co-introduce an anticipated anti-voucher resolution in the Council due to failure to pull
together the votes for the passage of the resolution that had the Council repudiating the congressional school voucher plan for D.C.. Councilmember Fenty has stated that pressure from the Bush Administration kept many Councilmembers reluctant to voice opposition out of fear that the Republican-majority Congress would use its budget approval authority to
punish the Council if it opposes the voucher plan.. See the July 9 editon of the Washington Times article by Patrick Badgley.

Stop D.C. Vouchers will continue to press the case of the residents of D.C., who because of congressional oversight, are subject to Congressional legislation for D.C. The voucher legislation is expected to be presented for vote before the full House of Representatives. Before it becomes law a voucher plan must be approved by both the Senate and the House and presented to the President of the United States, who may veto or approve it.

From the House, the bill could be taken up by the Senate, in one of several ways. It could come up as a stand-alone piece of legislation, in which case some believe it would be harder to pass the full Senate. The Senate this session has already rejected two measures to approve vouchers under the special education law. Expected by most is that Davis' voucher plan will be presented in the Senate as a 'rider' attached to the D.C. Appropriations bill, a popular vehicle for Congress to get passed their own legislative proposals that are unpopular with D.C. residents.

"The voucher legislation will likely become an add-on to D.C.'s budget bill. This is how they do it. They will blackmail us with the voucher plan, holding up approval of our budget, until we cry 'uncle' and acquiesce to their pressure to accept vouchers. They always stoop to tying up our much needed locally raised dollars to get their way in D.C.. It's despicable; it's un-American. It is telling: if the conservatives pushing this voucher plan really cared about D.C.'s children, they would give their parents full democratic rights to run the school system without congressional interference so that public education can get the support that it needs. This is why this predominantly African American city needs full
democracy - so that we are no longer vehicles for this ideological agenda of some members of Congress." states Webb, a DCPS parent and graduate and director of Stop D.C. Vouchers, an effort mobilizing pro-public education advocates to fight the voucher push.

"We hope that it doesn't even make it past the House floor. The Senate is our hope, where because we have no representation, we must call upon members like Senator Edward Kennedy to stave off this voucher plan. We look to the
Senate for a reasoned and responsive approach to what residents of D.C. are saying about vouchers. In accordance with what we really want, the Senate should say no to this voucher plan" says Melody Webb.

Stop D.C. Vouchers plans to redouble its efforts to fight the plan. "The narrow passage of the legislation gives us great hope that we can still influence the process. We are not giving up the fight."

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STOP D.C. VOUCHERS PRESS ADVISORY, July 7 2003 PDF Version

Contact: Melody Webb, 202-276-9253, www.stopdcvouchers.org

Stop D.C. Vouchers Applauds The Expected Cropp-Fenty Resolution Opposing Vouchers

Group Urges Residents to Continue the 250 email/petition push and Flood Council with Calls Supporting No Deal To Swap Voucher Approval for Public Schools Funding

Washington, D.C. -- Staff in the offices of both D.C. Council Chair Linda Cropp (D- At large) and Councilmember Adrian Fenty (D- Ward 4) today indicated that the two Councilmembers are expected tomorrow, Tuesday, July 8, to co-introduce an anti-voucher sense-of-the-council resolution in the Council's final legislative session of the year. Stop D.C. Vouchers applauds this move by the Council.

"This is democracy in action and given the congressional mark-up of the voucher bill this week, it is a sound strategic move that should leave Congress in no doubt as to how Washington, D.C. residents feel about school vouchers. Rep. Davis, by pushing this voucher bill, is ignoring D.C.'s 1981 referendum against vouchers and ignoring the polls of late 2002 that reflect D.C. residents' opposition to vouchers. if and when the Council voices the will of the people by approving the Cropp-Fenty resolution - Mr. Davis and Congress will have to pay attention and drop their incessant push for school vouchers in D.C. Three cheers for the real representatives of the people - Councilmembers Cropp and Fenty" stated Melody Webb, a DCPS parent who runs Stop D.C. Vouchers, a grass-roots and online effort to organize residents to fight the attempted institution of vouchers in D.C.. Ms. Webb is an attorney who works to reform the D.C. public schools.

Stop D.C. Vouchers urges officials to reject any deals that are offered to grant funds for public schools in exchange for city official's support of any taxpayer-funded private school tuition grants plan by Congress. Recent news reports indicate that Councilmember Chavous (D - Ward 7), one of three local officials publicly on record in support of vouchers, will support an anti-voucher resolution in the Council. However, Councilmember Chavous is expected to oppose vouchers only for as long as Congress fails to include in its plan dollars for the city's public traditional and charter schools. "There should be no quid pro quo. City officials must do right by our children and reject any deal that includes vouchers. If vouchers are bad in a voucher-only plan; then they are bad in a voucher plus public school funding scheme. Bad is bad. Period." stated Ms. Webb.

Representative Tom Davis' (R- Virginia - 11th) Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a mark-up to revise the school voucher bill, HR-2556, on Thursday, July 10 in the Rayburn House Office Building. A time has not yet been announced. For more information on the time and date, please contact Mr. Davis Government Reform Committee at (202) 225-5074. Those who are able are urged to attend the congressional mark-up of the voucher bill.

Using stopdcvouchers.org, D.C. residents and public education supporters all over the country have submitted over 250 emails and petition signatures combined showing their determination to keep a voucher plan out of D.C.

Stop D.C. Vouchers is advising residents and pro-public education advocates to flood the City Council with support for the anti-voucher resolution by either calling, writing, faxing or dropping by the offices of their Councilmembers. They are also urged to continue to use the website www.stopdcvouchers.org to register their opposition to vouchers. Those who can are urged to try to attend the July 8 Council legislative session at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, where the vote on the anti-voucher resolution is expected to occur sometime between late morning on and late afternoon on Tuesday July 8. The Council session can be viewed live online at www.dccouncil.us ; click on "agenda available today".

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DAVIS' BILL A HALF-STEP TOWARD D.C. DEMOCRACY WITH NEW VOTING RIGHTS PLAN AS HE CONTINUES TO UNDERCUTS DEMOCRACY THROUGH VOUCHERS PLAN FOR D.C.

PDF Version

Plan Called A Smokescreen for Recent Efforts to Impose a Locally Unpopular Voucher Plan on D.C. Residents

Washington, D.C., June 29 -- Stop D.C. Vouchers calls a half-step the new proposal by Tom Davis for a vote in the House of Representatives for D.C., warning that the ostensible intent of the plan – promoting democracy for D.C. residents, contrasts starkly with the democracy-undermining congressional voucher legislation for D.C. that has no grassroots origin or support in D.C.

The powerful Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), chairman of the Government Reform Committee that governs D.C., stands behind both the congressional voucher plan for D.C. and talks of a plan to give the District of Columbia one voting representative in the House. Tom Davis has authored legislation for HR-2556, which proposes a taxpayer funded private school tuition grant program for D.C. children. On Thursday, June 26 Davis revealed plans to draft legislation to give D.C. and Utah with it, a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"The hypocrisy is astounding. Rep. Davis pulls the rug from underneath D.C.'s movement for home rule one week through voucher legislation and starts a slow waltz with D.C. through talks of a voting rights plan the next. This is why we need statehood. This is why we need full constitutionally-guaranteed democracy" said Melody Webb, a D.C. public schools parent-activist and attorney, who started Stop D.C. Vouchers, a campaign to stop the congressional voucher plan for Washington, D.C.

"In other words, Rep. Davis is saying to D.C. residents 'you deserve democracy enough to get a vote in Congress on the one hand. Yet, when it comes to determining how your schools are run - democracy goes out of the window'" continued Webb.

"If Congress supports democracy for D.C. it should immediately scuttle these plans for a voucher program, which D.C. residents have rejected time and time again, through a referendum and opinion polls. On the eve of launching a voting rights bill to give us a say in national government, Rep. Davis is vigorously advancing legislation to take away our voice over our education system." said Ms. Webb.

"We have to open our eyes to the relationship between all the things at play - vouchers, home rule, and voting rights. With one hand, Davis wants to give a vote in Congress for democracy and the other to take it away, overriding local opposition to vouchers and self determination. Maybe the voting rights legislation is just a smokescreen for recent efforts to impose a locally unpopular voucher plan on D.C. residents. Davis is trying to deflect attention away from his democracy-defeating voucher push. If Tom Davis is serious about democracy for D.C., he should advance the objective of statehood, which would grant self government as well as voting representation in Congress to D.C.. These are the inseparable twins of real democracy for D.C."

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June 24, D.C. PARENTS DENOUNCE REP. TOM DAVIS' NEW VOUCHER BILL:

The New Plan Will Destroy, Not Expand School Choice, Leaving 80,000 Children Behind and Underserved by the New Federal No Child Left Behind Law

PDF Version

Washington, D.C.---Stop D.C. Vouchers opposes the newest congressional plan, sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA-11), to create a publicly funded private school voucher program in D.C. D.C. offers choice through transformation programs, magnet schools and 42 charter schools in D.C. and these choices are already inadequately funded to meet the accountability mandates required by the Bush No Child Left Behind law.

“Where is the fiscal impact analysis? For every 30 students taken from the system, critical staff and local and federal funds will be lost. The voucher plan will draw sorely needed dollars away from the choices in our system now and curtail, not enhance choice in our public schools. Meeting the accountability mandates of the NCLB law by some estimates will cost approximately $9 million, which puts improvements in public schools in direct competition with this new voucher plan whose estimated cost is roughly the same as the NCLB mandate. If D.C. can not adequately fund the NCLB mandates such as improving teacher training, and raising student achievement, schools will not improve and students will lose. Just at the proposal stage alone we see that the goal is to force out public schools, not encourage them to improve. D.C. students will become the casualties of a crusade to impose vouchers at all costs" said Melody Webb, leader of Stop D.C. Vouchers, a D.C. parent-led initiative started by the D.C.P.S. parent who is a D.C. attorney and DCPS graduate mobilizing supporters of public schools who oppose vouchers in D.C..

Stop D.C. Vouchers is part of an overall strategy of community education that is spreading its message across the country, largely via its information-packed website. The initiative has successfully targeted and helped draw attention to vouchers in D.C. via an earlier version of a House bill that was sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz-6). Linking the voucher proposal to D.C.'s unique relationship with Congress, Stop D.C. Vouchers has enabled local and national citizens to send emails and sign a petition online to protest Congress' actions, which exploit the congressional oversight role over D.C. to impose vouchers on a city that has rejected them. The site can be found at www.stopdcvouchers.org

The introduction of this new Davis plan signals the death of an earlier bill, HR- 684, which was sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz-6) and which was vigorously opposed by pro-public school advocates. Stop D.C. Vouchers helped kill the Flake bill. "We are happy that our efforts contributed to the demise of the 108th Congress’ first voucher bill for D.C., which was offered up by Flake. The Flake plan is off, but like a hydra headed monster the voucher proponents in Congress have grown a scarier more powerful head for its voucher-for-D.C. efforts - in the form of Davis' new-and-improved plan."

This legislation is a voucher-only proposal. Davis’ plan includes no money for the system of traditional and charter schools in D.C. that need them. Numerous reports in recent weeks indicated that promises were made of funds for D.C. schools to the Democratic Mayor Williams, who bucked conventional wisdom to seek a deal with Bush Administration officials wherein he would support the voucher plan as part of a three sector approach of support for public and charter schools. "Now our Mayor has egg on his face. The students of D.C. are twice wronged - first by having precious funds drained away from their public schools for vouchers, and second by suffering another failed promise of additional resources for those same public schools." Melody Webb stated.

"With Tom Davis at the helm of this legislation, it will take a massive outcry by residents of D.C. and by concerned citizens across the nation to put an end to this impending train wreck" says Melody Webb. Representative Davis holds the powerful position of chairman of the U.S. House Government Reform Committee, and has unilateral control over legislation concerning D.C. in Congress. (The D.C. subcommittee was abolished last year, ending the panel which historically had given D.C. residents recourse to sympathetic Democrats and moderate Republicans against intermeddling legislation traditionally offered by conservative Republicans.) "Mr. Davis' star is rising in Congress, and if he ushers in the long-held plan by the Republican Party to get vouchers in D.C. he can write his own ticket within the Republican Party. It is a shame that he is riding to glory within the party on the backs of the 80,000 D.C. children that his legislation will leave behind."

When asked about the fairness of 'imposing' the legislation on D.C. residents, Mr. Davis responds that the voucher plan is not mandatory. Because the plan was not sought through the legislative process by D.C. residents or leaders, and in fact was rejected by them, this voucher plan clearly imposes the will of Congress on that of D.C. citizens. In a 1981 referendum, a majority of D.C. voters opposed the implementation of vouchers. In 2002, a Zogby International poll confirmed this result. Residents of the District lack voting rights in Congress and the Senate and also are subject to fiscal and legislative oversight by Congress. D.C. voters have already clearly rejected vouchers but in another instance of bullying, Congress is imposing its will on the citizens of D.C. by pushing this plan.

In addition, on their face, vouchers are a bad idea. A GAO report has found that vouchers do not lead to significant academic gains for students who use them to attend private schools. In fact, a 2003 Cleveland study found that students remaining in public school performed better than voucher school students. Vouchers destroy public accountability for academic achievement, which is the cornerstone of the Bush Administration's NCLB education reform, under which schools must face penalties for not meeting approved standards for teacher training, performance reporting and student testing. Vouchers leave private schools unaccountable for protecting the civil rights of bilingual, disabled, gay and lesbian students (and staff). "We won't know how private schools spend tax dollars or even if they are doing what they claim to for our children. And what happens when a student develops disabilities? Private schools are free to expel them" stated Doreen Hodges, a Ward 8 parent of a disabled child working with Stop D.C. Vouchers. Private schools surveyed have indicated that they would not participate in a voucher plan that required them to meet such standards.

Rep. Davis suggests that his voucher plan is a panacea to the challenges faced by the whole school systems, saying that this is "about offering an alternative for students and parents". D.C. already offers extensive choice through charter, transformation and magnet schools, and public funds should be invested not in a highly experimental plan for 2000 children that has been proven a failure, but in these schools that already exist and have high demand for the sake of the other 78,000 in the system of public schools.

In another development, Theodore McCarrick, the Catholic Archbishop of Washington, has announced his desire for Davis' voucher-only bill to include dollars for public schools. "The Catholic Archdiocese may mean well, but he supports vouchers, which makes his statement hypocritical. To fund vouchers in and of itself is to take away precious resources from the already financially ailing public schools that are seeing after-school programs cut, can't buy adequate textbooks, maintain crumbling facilities, nor in many cases satisfy the most basic of infrastructure needs. The current voucher plan means funding needed to prop up Catholic schools, and throwing a few crumbs one time- this year - at the public schools will amount to nothing when year-after-year public schools have to compete with the never-ending drain on public resources that vouchers will become once they are implemented. The Cardinal's position on vouchers is the height of injustice. In the District there are 6000 slots in the parochial schools. However 1400 of those slots are vacant. So vouchers help to maintain the viability of those Catholic schools. So vouchers really are a benefit to Catholic schools" stated Raymond Blanks, a Ward 6 parent-activist and educator working with Ms. Webb.

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Washington DC May 1, 2003

Following in the steps of its success in helping win a three year extension for CareFirst subscribers using Children’s and to stop the conversion of CareFirst, Lobbyline.com announces a new project. We announce ‘Stop D.C. Vouchers’, an innovative and pioneering campaign to oppose the Congressional school voucher plan for D.C. by focusing on its impact on D.C. voting rights, putting a compelling twist on the fight. Lobbyline is a revolutionary, grassroots advocacy initiative for local and national individuals and groups that connects people to powerful decision-makers to create beneficial change in their communities. The ‘Stop D.C. Vouchers’ initiative of Lobbyline is organizing in the D.C. community and on-line to help D.C. residents and supporters take on voucher legislation that Congress seeks to impose on Washington, D.C..

Stop D.C. Vouchers is transforming the anger of the D.C. community into vigorous action as it leads citizens to halt school vouchers through two strategies. “We aim to win over Congressional constituents of voucher supporters in Congress to our side and we seek to convert needed allies like School Board President Peggy Cafritz to our side. This new Lobbyline project gives advocacy strategies on D.C. issues before Congress a new twist.” said Melody Webb, the director of Lobbyline. Webb is an attorney, and a native and resident of D.C. and a graduate of D.C.’s public schools. “We are aiming to kill the voucher legislation as well as to further the goals of the move for D.C. voting rights and full self government”.

“We will appeal to local residents by demonstrating that Congress is meddling in local D.C. affairs, but we also appeal to the constituents of these congressmen that their representatives are spending their time helping run Washington D.C., rather than working for their constituents. So, I am not appealing to their better natures (“Please set us free”), rather I am appealing to their selfish self-interest (“Your congressman is two-timing you”).”

’Stop D.C. Vouchers’ knows that it has its work cut out with some local officials but is determined to convert them to anti-voucher cause. Webb is confident that local officials who have not already stood up for public school choice will come to see the need for school choice funds in public not private schools.

The ongoing controversy around D.C. School Board President Peggy Cafritz originates with her controversial and unfortunate turnabout on school voucher legislation in Congress. Recently, Ms.Cafritz' letter to the editor in the Washington Post stated that she had evolved into her new stance due to the unhappiness of DCPS parents and due to her desire to avoid a fight against the voucher legislation that could not be won (given the Republican-controlled White House and Congress). “Through Ms. Cafritz, Congress appears to have gained an ally in the DC school system to subvert the cause of DC home rule. We stand with Congresswoman Norton in her vow to defeat this Congressional plan and we are confident that Ms. Cafritz will see the light again on this Congressional voucher plan” Melody Webb vowed..

“Members of Congress and Ms. Cafritz must not count the voucher opposition out. Through our innovative on-line and grassroots advocacy campaign, we will help our coalition partners give the voucher proponents in Congress a round and sound legislative challenge,” states Melody Webb.

Local DC residents and supporters and Ms. Norton's allies in Congress are perfectly capable of mounting a huge fight against this voucher effort and are currently doing so. “Ms. Cafritz’ constantly shifting stance on vouchers and surrounding issues is unfortunate but goes to show it is not easy to just give away school choice money to private schools when there are so many public school choice programs to fund in D.C. instead.” said Webb. Ms. Cafritz has yet to articulate arguments favoring the merits of school vouchers. Aside from the fact that we disagree with vouchers as a policy, we disagree with Ms. Cafritz because she has failed to do outreach, education, and consultation with the community on this matter. She needs to do all of that on the timetable of the DCPS community, rather than that of Congressman Jeff Flake's legislation.

“Does Ms. Cafritz know, for example, that children with special needs are not afforded the same educational rights and protections in private schools that they are in public schools? What happens if a child begins to display behavior-related learning disabilities in a private school that he has entered with a tuition voucher? The school simply kicks him out. Not so in public schools. There is too much work to be done; too much to learn from the community of local DC parents, advocates, and scholars, to jump in bed with this socially conservative non-fix for the DC public school population” Webb offered.

‘Stop D.C. Vouchers’ is the first initiative of the ‘Leave D.C. Alone’ campaign to draw attention to Congressional incursions on D.C. services and programs through its oversight role. The campaign intends to further the cause of home rule and a vote in Congress for Washington, D.C., which currently lacks both. ‘The Leave D.C. Alone’ initiative over several weeks will target different Congressmen driving legislation that intermeddles in D.C. affairs. “It is time we turned the tables and take the fight to their home districts” states Melody Webb, director of Lobbyline and the projects fighting for home rule.

Through ‘Stop D.C. Vouchers’ ‘Leave D.C. Alone’ pursues Congressman Jeff Flake, of Arizona, who is sponsoring the voucher bill in Congress. “We are opposed to school vouchers, and since the new legislation is a by-product of the lack of voting representation, the new campaign is a voting rights campaign that will be phased in over a period of weeks. As a public school reformer, I am appalled at the series of assaults being made on our freedom to reform the D.C. schools as we see fit. Our first campaign opposes legislation to promote school vouchers.” Webb stated. Webb started her home-based business when she felt there was a need to give citizens easy access to officials and decision-makers.

Our campaign to defeat vouchers is on the move. We vow the following. Let's tell Ms. Cafritz to withdraw her support from this voucher legislation. Let's thank Councilmember Adrian Fenty for his work opposing this voucher plan. Let's tell Congressman Flake to withdraw the legislation (H.R. 684) altogether. Let's tell his Arizona constituents via his home district newspaper (which came out against vouchers a couple of years ago) that Jeff Flake is neglecting Arizona issues, just like the Arizona Governor Napolitano says he is doing. Let's tell Jeff Flake to leave DC alone.

The community is taking action in these ways. The community can E-mail and fax these
decision-makers in a couple of minutes on the action page of http://www.stopdcvouchers.org. We provide guidance on letter-writing. Citizens are encouraged to write and call local and Congressional officials. Through ‘Stop D.C. Vouchers’ citizens can and are taking action to reclaim public funds for public school choice in the community.

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The Return of CareFirst to Children's Hospital of D.C. - A New Paradigm for Public Involvement

Lobbyline receives wide acknowledgement for its web-based advocacy work that mobilized dozens of Washington area citizens to help bring CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and Children's Hospital to a new 3 year contract affecting 3.2 million subscribers of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

Washington DC Jan 29, 2003

Lobbyline is pleased to announce that its new paradigm of civic involvement has proved itself under fire again, this time in leading an advocacy campaign whose work included channeling individual emails and administrative complaints to corporate and government legislators and regulators and is widely acknowledged for playing a tremendous role in generating the renewal of a 3 year contract between D.C. Children's Hospital and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield health insurance. This renewal will immediately benefit at least 7800 families who actively use Children's Hospital and affects the accessibility of Children's Hospital for a total of 3.2 million CareFirst subscribers in the Mid-Atlantic region overall. A newly minted start-up business run from home by an at-home mother who is a Harvard trained lawyer living in Washington D.C, Lobbyline is quickly establishing itself as a leading organization in taking advantage of today's wired society to inform, mobilize and enthuse individual citizens on the local level who until now had felt powerless, and disconnected from the levers of power.

Lobbyline took up the compelling cause of consumers in the controversial contract dispute between Children's Hospital and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield that threatened to end in-network coverage for thousands of users of Children's Hospital of D.C.. This would have led to disastrous health consequences for hundreds of critically ill and disabled children who depend upon the unique pediatric medical facilities and specially trained physicians of Children's Hospital's for their children's medical care. The hospital and insurance company in November of 2002 had reached a seemingly insurmountable impasse in their rate dispute. "When we first became involved in this cause in November, everyone said it was hopeless - that CareFirst would drop Children's from its provider network", says Melody Webb, director of Lobbyline. "I am very pleased about the role that we were able to play in bringing people together from all parts of the Washington metropolitan area, helping to get their message out to the public in general and to local and federal decision-makers for Washington, Maryland and Virginia. This is a model for web-based organizing on a local level to achieve outcomes of national import. When big corporations attempt to squeeze the little people in their little communities, they can expect a loud deafening outcry that will send them packing. Corporate America call off your war of aggression against consumers! The little people have a voice."

Carrin Brandt, a CareFirst policyholder and parent activist, adds "The aid of Lobbyline was invaluable in our campaign to apply pressure on Children's and CareFirst to reach a deal. My young daughter suffers from a serious medical condition requiring the care of the coordinated team of specialists at Children's. We needed to keep our insurance coverage at Children's. Lobbyline enabled us to get our message out to a broader array of people, and their inventive means of complaint were a constant source of encouragement in the darkest days, and have encouraged several of us to take on a more active role than we ever thought possible. Lobbyline performed research, interfaced with decision-makers, drafted educational materials, and gave general strategic advice. Lobbyline was with us every step of the way."

Sam Jordan, of Health Care Now!, says "Lobbyline combined effective advocacy with a deep understanding of the issues. We anticipate collaboration with Lobbyline to further advance the cause to rationalize health care in the Washington Metropolitan area and across the nation."

Susan Gushue, a CareFirst policyholder parent says "Thank you so much. I have children who suffer from asthma and seizure disorder and the thought that we would not be able to use Children's was terrifying. Thank you , thank you , thank you."

Rene Wallis, Deputy Director of D.C. Primary Care Associates, a collaborative of health care providers, Medicaid and uninsured citizens, says "Lobbyline provided critical information to the public and employed user-friendly vehicles for citizen action on an issue vital to thousands of families in the area". Cheryl Fish Parcham of Families USA said, "Lobbyline helped to inform families of their rights to pursue insurance complaints when government agencies were not publicizing this information. In other states, health care ombudsman programs help inform consumers of their rights." Melody Webb, Director of Lobbyline, agreed "Our experiences this last month illustrate the real need for a health care ombudsman in D.C." Lobbyline counts advocacy of a health care ombudsman among its future projects.

In this CareFirst-Children's campaign, Lobbyline used a variety of techniques to educate the public, energize the public, and generate civic participation. These included the following.

- Old-fashioned organizing involved development and distribution of educational materials to affected citizens and the general public; participating in and leading strategic planning sessions, and personal lobbying of individual decision-makers in all three jurisdictions

- Effective use of community and vocational listservs to get the message out

- Educating and informing the print media about updates in the situation.

- Collaborating and consulting with related organizations and coalitions.

- Lobbyline's standard action campaign, where it provides a custom-made advocacy letter to send by email or regular mail to selected decision-makers.

- Lobbyline's advocacy generated nearly 500 emails directed to legislators, commissioners, and other officials in Washington, Virginia and Maryland.

- Lobbyline's advocacy led nearly half a dozen citizens to initiate administrative complaints with local insurance commissioners

- Traditional advocacy to follow up on the email campaigns. Lobbyline's director Melody Webb is a seasoned legislative advocate before both the local and federal government.
- Providing advocacy advice and counsel to affected partners - in this case concerned parents.

- Researching and drafting model administrative complaints with insurance commissioners, to force redress of violations of the legal rights of policy holders

- Aiding in the preparation of legal strategy and in the acquisition of legal representation on behalf of families. Lobbyline's director Melody Webb is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Lobbyline's mission is to use a combination of the best web-based technology and traditional advocacy strategies to train and empower citizens on the local level to influence corporate and government decision-makers in order to benefit their local and national communities. Lobbyline is run on a shoe-string budget and completely financed by the founder-director. Lobbyline is in the process of incorporating and is seeking funding from charitable organizations.

For more information, contact

Melody Webb, Director, Lobbyline

(202) 554 8519 melodywebb@lobbyline.com http://www.lobbyline.com

Carrin Brandt, parent

(703) 455 1820 carrinbrandt@yahoo.com

Sam Jordan Director, Health Care Now!

(202) 339 9341 sjordan@communitychange.org http://www.healthcarenowdc.org

Susan Gushue parent

smgushue@starpower.net

Rene Wallis Deputy Director, DCPCA

(202) 638 0252 rwallis@dcpca.org http://www.dcpca.org

Cheryl Fish Parcham Medicaid Coordinator, Families USA