HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, May 21 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today joined Oversight & Government Reform Committee Ranking Republican Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Education & Labor Committee Ranking Republican Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) in introducing legislation to reauthorize the District of Columbia’s groundbreaking school choice program.  The program has provided educational opportunities for thousands of inner-city children since it was established with bipartisan support in 2004.  Boehner issued the following statement on the legislation:

“All year long, the students served by the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program have been caught in the middle of a political fight about whether to continue this successful program or bow to the education establishment and opponents of reform by forcing nearly 2,000 students out of their schools.  This program is popular, effective, and has made a difference for thousands of low-income children in our nation’s capital for the last five years.  Ending it at the behest of powerful special interests would be shameful.

“We know where Washington, D.C. parents stand on this issue: they want the program to continue.  It’s time now for Congress and the Administration to listen to the voices of the parents and students that this program has served so well.  On behalf of the children who have been given a chance to attend a high-quality school thanks to this innovative program, let’s take politics out of this issue and pass this legislation with bipartisan support.  I thank Reps. Buck McKeon and Darrell Issa for their work on this important legislation and on giving every student a chance at a high-quality education.”

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