Senate approves landmark school voucher plan
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Senate Thursday approved the country's first federally funded educational voucher scheme, which will enable some poor public school students in Washington D.C. to attend private schools.
The controversial voucher plan, so-called because it gives the families of around 2,000 eligible Washington students vouchers worth up to $7,500 each for private school tuition, was part of a delayed 2004 budget bill that passed 65-28.
President Bush backs the idea but it is strongly opposed by many Democrats who say it will undermine public schools and is unfair to students left behind. Local civic leaders and parents in Washington are divided over the issue.
The five-year pilot project approved for the capital will be the country's first such federally funded plan for primary education. A handful of locally funded voucher programs across the country have stirred deep controversy.
"This (voucher) bill expands choice, empowers parents and is directed toward allowing every child in the District the opportunity to receive a good, high-quality education," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told reporters before the vote.
The measure, which Bush is expected to sign into law, passed in the House of Representatives in early December.
Congress under the U.S. Constitution has special jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, which is notorious for the poor quality of its public schools.
The mayor, school board chairman, and some city council members are eager to accept extra federal education funds and try a new strategy to improve local schools.
The city's non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton, several Senate Democrats and the National Education Association fought the initiative as an intrusion in local affairs and damaging to public schools.
Advocates of voucher programs say they are a lifeline for poor and minority children in failing public schools. They argue giving parents a choice in where to send their children to school will force bad public schools to reform.
But opponents say the money could be better spent improving the public education system and say there is little evidence to suggest that children using vouchers will achieve better academic results.
The federal government plans to monitor the results of the Washington voucher pilot to see if it should be expanded to other cities with troubled school systems.
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