A press release from Joe Walsh:
Congressman Walsh Issues Statement on House Passage of D.C. Opportunities Scholarship Program
“Once again, D.C. parents will have the power and means necessary to emancipate their children from failing public schools”
Washington, D.C. — Today, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 471, the SOAR Act, a bill which Congressman Walsh co-sponsored, by 225-195 votes.
The bill reauthorizes the D.C. Opportunities Scholarship Program – a program that provides low-income students scholarships to higher performing schools in the District of Columbia.
Since its 2004 inception, the D.C. OSP has been a huge success. Providing more than 3,300 kids with the opportunity to attend higher performing schools, the program touts a 91 percent graduation rate, versus the overall high school graduation rate of 55 percent found in the District.
“Today Congress stood up for our kids,” said Congressman Walsh.
A pleased Joe Walsh is joined byt Congressman Don Manzullo at an MCC forum.
“They stood up to the teachers unions who were so scared of seeing our kids have the opportunity to break-free from their failing educational systems, that they spent millions of dollars trying to maintain the status quo.
“They stood up for the parents who desperately want their kids to have the chance to receive a high-quality education.
“Today Congress made the decision to put kids before politics, and once again, D.C. parents will have the power and means necessary to emancipate their children from failing public schools.”
“Educators and parents across the country should wake up and pay attention.
“The D.C. OSP is a program that should be modeled in Illinois and all over America.
“Its proven results are undeniable and through it, we’ve seen thousands of students receive an education that has prepared them to compete in a society where education is the keystone of success.”
“As a lifelong educator, the passage of this bill means so much to me. It was about our kids, about giving future generations the education they will need to lead our great country into the future.”
Rep. Joe Walsh ran the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, a Chicago-based privately funded school voucher program which gives high school scholarships to low-income Chicago eighth grader, from 1997-2001.