US House reinstates DC school voucher program

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Mar 30, 6:21 PM EDT
US House reinstates DC school voucher program
By BEN NUCKOLS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. House has voted to reinstate a school voucher program for District of Columbia students.

Washington's voucher program subsidizes private school tuition for needy students and is the only such program to receive federal funds.

Congress began phasing it out in 2009, but Republican House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nuhr), who attended Catholic schools, introduced the bill to revive the program.

The bill would increase the annual subsidy to up to $12,000 per student. It would cost $300 million over five years, with $100 million going to the voucher program and the rest to D.C.'s public and charter schools.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DC_SCHOOL_VOUCHERS?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[MichiganVote]

1. Wish my district had $12,000 to blow on school children.

[exboyfil]

2. DC actually spent $15K/yr per student

in 2007-2008. Reported it is up to $18K/yr this year.

Bad idea because it leads to church state entanglement, but $18K/yr??? I know cost of living is higher than where I live, but that is more than twice what we spend per student. A cost of living calculator yields a 42% more expensive than our area.

How much will be enough? Anyone have constructive thoughts on how to improve the system?

[MichiganVote]

4. Makes me sick to know that our districts have a mere $7-7500 per student

[groundloop]

3. Meanwhile, (public) school funding is being cut in nearly every state

Yet another example of the Publicans attempts to privative everything. Strangle public education and give money to private contractors (in this case private schools).