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OPPORTUNITY ON CHOPPING BLOCK. The U.S. House of Representatives is planning to kill a program that has saved more than 11,000 low-income families since it began in the 2004-2005 school year. It was the seminal plot of the movie Miss Virginia with Uzo Aduba, featuring the story of Virginia Walden Ford who fought valiantly to have it available to the lowest income parents, including herself, struggling to find an education that meets their children’s needs. Since then, the OSP students uncharacteristically for DC traditional public schools have a better than 95 percent graduation rate and nearly 87 percent college enrollment rate.

THE WASHINGTON POST HITS A HOME RUN as it comes out swinging in favor of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program – and reiterating its long-standing support of the only federally authorized voucher program in the country, the District’s Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). The OSP is a part of the three-sector approach to federal funding for the traditional, charter and voucher communities in our nation’s capital. It was created by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Joe Lieberman, Speaker of the House John Boehner, Democratic Former Mayor Anthony Williams, and Democratic Former Councilmember Kevin Chavous.

HOLMES NORTON HYPOCRISY. The Post also called out long-time opponent and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for fighting a program that supports low-income minority families with an average annual income of $23,668 while she exhaustively supports another federally funded program (for college access) in which families with an income of $515,000 can participate.

THE SAME HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL would prevent tax-paying companies from contracting with charter schools to deliver education services, instruction or whatever, under the misplaced theory that when a company that is considered for-profit works with schools they are tainted. I guess the same Congress wouldn’t mind then firing all of its contractors, or requiring all public schools only contract with non-profit providers for their computers, food, supplies and transportation?

IS THIS A PROFIT, TOO?  News reports that AFT head Randi Weingarten makes over $560,000 per year has many cringing. But at least her union is non-profit, right? (Sarcasm intended).

CELEBRITIES CELEBRATE OPPORTUNITY.  It’s awesome when the stars come out to play with education. We’ve all known about – and some of us have seen Pitbull’s Sports Leadership Arts and Management Charter School, for example, that opened in Miami in 2012, and is expanding. “Rapper and activist Common, who has won an Emmy, a Grammy and an Oscar, helped launch the charter school Art in Motion on the city’s south shore in 2019,” as has NBA star Jalen Rose in his hometown of Detroit. Kudos as well to George Clooney, Dr. Dre and LeBron for contributing to education, but you guys might want to take a page from your colleagues above whose contribution also ensures parents, not systems, make the ultimate choice.

$6,000 MORE ISN’T ENOUGH?  School system leaders are reportedly already complaining that, even though they have received an additional $6,000 per student, on top of an average of $13,000 per student, it’s not enough. Today’s New York Times reports that while “Schools Get a Stimulus Windfall,” they “Find That It May Not Be Enough.” Not only are they worried about funding cliffs, such that if they spend money now they won’t be able to pay for the same things later, but they are complaining about an alleged lack of flexibility in the American Rescue Plan’s $122 billion. That plan, geared towards ensuring K-12 schools reopen with a strong plan to counter learning loss from COVID, mental health supports for children and families and any related facility upgrades needed, doesn’t permit construction projects, for example, nor should it.  As our CEO told the Times, “It’s aggravating, and is to a lot of rank-and-file citizens, that districts want to talk about capital when there are so many things we need to be doing for students.”

The latest report from the Census Bureau shows 5% higher per-pupil spending in the year before COVID. It’s about helping kids succeed, but apparently, they aren’t exactly sure how to do that. There are also reports of Florida field trips and other “journeys” to help mitigate learning loss. Really? Yet another reason to Fund Families, not failure.