Martin Moulton, Libertarian for Shadow Representative, at National School Choice Week

Martin Moulton, Libertarian candidate for Shadow Representative represented Libertarians at a school choice rally at Friendship Chamberlain Charter School this morning, as part of National School Choice Week, and met Kevin Chavous of Democrats for School Choice (pictured) and other parents and school choice activists.

Many Libertarians favor expanding all forms of school choice, charters, education vouchers, and education tax credits.  In DC almost half of all students have left the traditional government monopoly school system for charter schools.  DC also as a voucher program used by a smaller group of students.

Many failing government schools have lost so much of their students, who have voted with their feet and left, that these large warehouse style schools are no longer functional.  Planning for the devolution is incumbent on DC politicians.

Bullying, a popular topic among education reformers, has been empowered by the traditional government monopoly system, where a bullied student could not leave for a more welcoming environment at another school.  Allowing students and their families more choices and more control over their educations will enhance their well-being, reduce bullying, and give parents more incentive to become involved in their children’s educations.

Voluntary sector help for the 41% government school drop out rate

Close the opportunity gap for middle school students! Be a Mentor! www.higherachievement.org/volunteer

We are in need of Mentors and Study Hall Aides at 3 of our Achievement Centers in DC (Petworth, Benning Road, Anacostia) and Alexandria. The greatest need is in Anacostia and Benning Road – and we provide shuttles to and from Metro! The commitment is one evening per week, Monday,Tuesday, or Thursday; Study Hall Aides- 4:00-6:00pm, Mentors- 6:00-8:00pm. 

100% of Higher Achievement graduates finish high school, and 93% go on to college. In a city where 59% finish high school and only 9% get a college degree, these results are astounding – and desperately needed. Higher Achievement is creating lasting change in the lives of youth – and you can be a part of that change in the DC Metro area!

By leveraging the power of communities, Higher Achievement’s proven model provides a rigorous summer and afterschool learning environment, caring role models, and a culture of high expectations, resulting in college-bound scholars with the character, confidence, and skills to succeed. Scholars commit to 4 years of the program, and are committed to their academics.

For more information or to fill out an application please go to www.higherachievement.org/volunteer. Please call or email Alexis Davis with questions, 202-375-7724 or adavis@higherachievement.org.

PRESIDENT’S BUDGET PROPOSAL FAILS TO FUND D.C. VOUCHER PROGRAM

 

Posted on Monday February 13, 2012 | Washington, D.C.

Despite reauthorization agreement, Obama aims to halt highly-successful Opportunity Scholarship Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 13, 2012)—President Barack Obama’s newly-released federal budget would not provide funding to the highly-successful D.C. voucher program, despite an agreement signed by the president last year that reauthorized the program.

The American Federation —the nation’s voice for school choice—strongly decries the president’s failure to provide funding to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), which currently provides scholarships to more than 1,600 children from low-income families across the nation’s capital to attend the private schools of their parents’ choice.

Though the OSP is in little danger of going unfunded—Congress is charged with appropriating funds, and House Speaker John Boehner is an ardent defender of the program—the move by President Obama is effectively a reneging on the promise he made last April in a budget agreement he signed that helped avert a government shutdown.

“The president says he’s for education reform, but his actions continually aim to send low-income and minority students back to schools that are failing them academically, are unsafe, or are otherwise not meeting their needs,” said Kevin P. Chavous, a senior advisor to AFC and a former D.C. Councilman. “This latest hypocrisy is just the most recent instance in which the president has stood in the way of students who are improving test scores and graduating in higher numbers.”

Since barring new students from entering the program in 2009, Obama has made a number of statements expressing support for reform that have contradicted his actions regarding the OSP. In 2010, President Obama publicly stated that he would not send his daughters to D.C. public schools, despite actively working to bar low-income families from having that choice.

And while the president rightly talks about the nation’s severe dropout crisis—as he did in his State of the Union address last month—he’s unwilling to support the OSP, where students’ 91 percent graduation rate is 21 percentage points higher than those who applied but couldn’t get a scholarship. And according to the Institute of Education Sciences—the primary research arm of the U.S. Department of Education—the OSP has the second highest achievement impact of any of the programs it has studied so far.

Since the program’s inception in 2004, more than 10,000 families have applied to participate in the OSP. Four years of studies done by Georgetown University and the University of Arkansas have shown overwhelming parental satisfaction, and 74 percent of D.C. residents polled a year ago supported reauthorization.  More than 700 participants participated in a signup event for the program on Saturday, hosted by the D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation. The Trust received more than 520 applications at the event.

“By any reasonable measure, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has been an overwhelming success,” Chavous said. “President Obama wouldn’t be where he is today without a private school scholarship. He needs to stop playing politics and do what’s right for kids.”