During recent months, Obama has drawn fire for his failure to support the continuation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a program which provides scholarships to under-privileged children as a means of helping them to attend a school of their parent’s choice. This program, which was enacted in 2004 and has since been a success, is under threat of being eliminated.
Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation that essentially phases-out the Opportunity Scholarship program by prohibiting any new students from enrolling. The President has stood by and allowed it to happen—effectively denying low-income children in D.C. the same opportunity that he benefited from as a child: the chance to attend a private school on scholarship.
Recently, Attorney General Eric Holder quietly urged proponents of the program to pull a television advertisement that promotes the D.C. OSP and urges President Obama to support school choice for D.C. families. Evidently, the administration is united against providing opportunity for these under-privileged children.
Last week, President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan traveled to Madison, WI where the President spoke to students and educators at James C. Wright Middle School. He highlighted the importance of offering the best education to children in the U.S.
“American prosperity has long rested on how well we educate our children. But, this has never been more true than it is today. There is nothing that will determine our future as a nation and the lives that our children will lead, more than the kind of education that we provide them.”
During Obama’s visit, Secretary Duncan also shared brief comments:
“And what amazes me is that week after week, month after month, he [Obama] just keeps coming back to education, and he’s absolutely passionate about it. He and his wife, the First Lady Michelle Obama, received great educations. Neither one was born with a lot of money, but they worked really hard and had great teachers and great principals and made the most of it. And now he’s our President. So it’s a pretty remarkable journey. The only reason he’s the President is because he got a great education.”
While Duncan fails to mention that Obama received a great education thanks to a scholarship, he concedes that without that opportunity, he would have never become President. It is impossible to know what will become of the educational futures of those 216 children who recently had their Opportunity Scholarships rescinded. But one thing is certain: Duncan’s remarks would have been highly ironic if delivered in the Nation’s Capitol, where thousands of children are being denied the opportunity to receive a decent education.
The President’s support for schools such as James C. Wright Middle School, a charter school in Madison, begs the question of why he endorses charter schools but does not back other effective school choice options for children. So far, his silence on the issue has meant 216 children have returned to the often dangerous and under performing D.C. public schools.
The children of Washington, D.C. are America’s future, and they deserve to hear President Obama’s explanation for denying them the bright educational opportunity that he was so fortunate to have benefited from.
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Kathleen Someah previously attended Kenyon College where she studied English and Political Science. She is currently an intern with a political think tank where she focuses primarily on issues relating to homeland security.
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