What Local Folks Are Saying

“[Nico] is in the 2nd grade at Naylor Road Private School. He is able to attend through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and he is excelling…. The Opportunity Scholarship Program has been a true blessing for me as well as Nico…. It would devastate my child if he were to have to leave Naylor Road due to the fact that the OSP is on the chopping block and I can’t afford to send him there on my own.”

-Latasha Bennett, Parent, Naylor Road School, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 5/13/09

"(This) is the first step in what is the biggest civil rights issue for this community”

-Kevin Chavous, Former DC City Councilman, Wall Street Journal, 5/5/09

“You have the ability to give other D.C. children the opportunity I had. My education gave me the chance at a successful future. Please don’t end a program that worked for me and is benefiting tons of other children. Three years from now I’ll be walking across a stage receiving my college diploma. Without the OSP, none of this would have been possible.”

-Tiffany Dunston, Student, Syracuse University and Graduate, Archbishop Carroll High School, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 5/13/09

“In America it should not be a privilege for any of our children to get a first rate education. In my opinion it is a right, although often a right that is not honored. Without an equal education for all there cannot be equality for all, the kind of equality that our founding documents promised.”

-Ronald Holassie, Student, Archbishop Carroll High School, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 5/13/09

“As many of you know, I was present at the creation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Some people claim that it was forced on the city by a Republican White House. This is not accurate and I’d like to set the record straight. This program was shaped and championed by D.C. leaders, including myself, Kevin P. Chavous, who was a member of the D.C. City Council and Chair of the Education Committee, and then President of the D.C. Board of Education, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, and numerous local parents, educators, and community leaders. We worked closely with the previous administration to develop what many refer to as a “three sector program” with unprecedented investments for all our children.”

-Former Mayor Anthony A. Williams, District of Columbia, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 5/13/09

“The Opportunity Scholarship Program is the beginning of the opening up of the genuine possibility for all American students to know and experience one another. What could be better for the goal of ending the polarity of “red and blue” in America, which I know you desire, than the creation of a nation of citizens who respect and understand the perspectives held by people of differing backgrounds and viewpoints. Our collective essence as Americans has always been the source of our truest strength. Please don’t allow this important step toward pluralism that OSP represents to recede. Keep the windows you have opened open, and unlock even more! Go forward and not backward: enlarge our national vision, do not narrow it!”

-Bruce B. Stewart, Head of School, Sidwell Friends School, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 5/13/09

“I strongly urge the Committee to pass a reauthorization bill for the OSP. It is not enough to fund only the current children while not accepting new applications. That decision would split up families, could force the closure of some schools, and seems to be made based on political compromise rather than on the facts. It will be difficult to administer this program on a scale smaller than the current size. Participating schools will face higher per capital compliance burdens as the number of students dwindle. Moreover, it sends a mixed message to parents regarding the program’s future and the certainty that their children can continue their educational path uninterrupted.”

-Former Mayor Anthony A. Williams, District of Columbia, Testimony before Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 5/13/09