Washington DC Education

Sundays New York Post is running a front page article that is so------Democrat. Actually, it's one of those stories that clearly separate Demomcrats from Republicans: should taxpayer vouchers be provided so that children from lower income districts or poorly performing schools can have the opportunity of attending private schools. Since the Dems are beholden to the the teacher's unions they vote no. Hey! It's a huge voting group. I have always found it interesting that children of Presidents typically go to the private schools and no one from the "Dark Side" of the congressional aisle complains.
New York's two US Democratic senators yesterday said they will vote against an amendment that would preserve a Washington, DC, school-voucher program that helps lower-income students attend private schools.
Sen. Charles Schumer said he'll cast a "no" in Monday's vote on the amendment, which is sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.).
The amendment would revise a spending bill written by Democrats in Congress, so that the program would no longer effectively end next year.
Under the current bill, hundreds of DC kids would have to head back into the trouble-plagued public school system.
Ensign's amendment would strip the language out of the bill that hobbles the voucher program, originally created in 2003, unless it was authorized both by Congress and the DC City Council.
"This is a program that should be discussed and scrutinized, not automatically reapproved," Schumer said. "This is why I am voting against the Ensign amendment."
Earlier in the day, Schumer said at a press conference that he favored leaving the decision to municipal lawmakers in Washington as opposed to members of Congress.
DC's local legislators have expressed opposition to the voucher program.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand(-NY), Hillary's replacement, will also cast a "no" vote, spokesman Matt Canter said.
Republicans in Congress have been making a strong push to save the voucher program and brought a group of private-school kids who are benefiting from the vouchers to Capitol Hill on Thursday to tell lawmakers to protect the program.
The program also got a shot in the arm from President Obama's education secretary, Arne Duncan, this week, when he said that even if the voucher system is killed, the kids currently enrolled in it ought to get similar financial assistance until they graduate.
The president himself has often said he's against voucher programs for private schools, but hasn't weighed in on the current fight.
Some of the 1,700 kids currently in the program have taken their fight very public, in the hopes that putting public pressure on Congress will impact the vote.
Vouchers have long been a political hot potato, debated for years by educators and parents.