Vouching for D.C.

A new report from the US Department of Education finds the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program has been extremely successful.  Matthew Ladner has more in NRO on the reports findings:

In the most recent evaluation, participating students showed gains equivalent to 3.7 months’ worth of additional reading achievement, a statistically significant difference from the control group. ...

Outside of academics, the study also found statistically significant differences in parental and student satisfaction with their schools. Program students reported significantly higher teacher expectations and higher levels of school discipline and safety.

These results are nothing short of phenomenal, considering the long trail of failure and frustration produced by earlier attempts to significantly improve the education of disadvantaged children. We should bear in mind that the maximum size of the Opportunity Scholarship ($7,500) is a fraction of average per-pupil spending in the District of Columbia public-school system.

On Jay Greene's blog, Ladner focuses more on the fact that the Dept. of Education held onto the report while the DC Scholarship program was being debated, and in fact scheduled for elimination by Congress.

Get more stories and resources on these findings and the DC Scholarship Program from the Alliance for School Choice.