Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues in opposing the reauthorization of the D.C. voucher program.

Public schools are the foundation of the American education system. They represent a duty we have to provide every student in every community with an education that helps them realize their full potential. Vouchers prevent us from fulfilling that duty by redirecting taxpayer money away from our public schools, which are already underfunded, and into private institutions that do not open their doors to every child.

As with previous versions of the SOAR Act, this bill does nothing to ensure that students with disabilities have access to private schools. It also discriminates against low-income families. In 64 percent of the participating D.C. schools, the tuition costs more than the voucher can cover, which, effectively, excludes families who cannot afford to pay the difference. Even students who can afford to attend private school can be excluded based on their prior academic achievement, language ability, or other discriminatory factors. I had hoped we could address these concerns through the amendment process, but the majority has not allowed amendments to the bill.

You would expect private schools that can choose their own students to have exceptional records of student performance, but you would be wrong. Since 2007, there have been four congressionally mandated reports on the D.C. voucher program's impact on student achievement. Not one of those reports found a significant improvement in reading or math scores among participants.

Mr. Speaker, with the Every Student Succeeds Act, we are entering a new era in education policy that holds real promise for students and educators across the country. We should be focusing our attention and resources on improving institutions that serve all students.

I call on my colleagues to remember the obligation we have to every child and reject H.R. 4901.

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