October 9, 2015
Kara Kerwin, president of The Center for Education Reform (CER), issued the following statement on the SOAR Act coming out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by a vote of 16-14 this afternoon:
“I applaud the Committee for doing what’s in the best interest of D.C. children’s futures by reauthorizing this important piece of legislation that improves upon the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).
“The D.C. OSP has been providing excellent educational choices for District families for the last 11 years. Over 16,000 families have applied to the program since its inception. The students the OSP serves are those who are most in need of educational attainment and options. The average annual income for participating families is less than $22,000.
“Since the first families applied for the OSP in 2004, I’ve personally bore witness to how this small but impactful program has changed the lives of thousands over the past decade. It is a critical piece to the three-sector approach Congress envisioned to dramatically change what was once the worst system of schooling in the country.
“Congress has the ability now to reauthorize and allow more families the freedom to choose the education that is best for their children to excel and thrive. Again we applaud the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for its swift passage of HR 10 and urge the House to follow suit.”