A banner touting President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” slogan hangs along the fa?ade of the Department of Education’s downtown headquarters. With a school vouchers plan becoming closer to reality for the District, however, perhaps the slogan should be “Every School Left Behind.”
The plan, narrowly approved by the House in a 209-208 vote, provides at least 1,300 students with up to $7500 for tuition at private schools.
At a time when D.C. schools are facing record budget shortfalls, the idea of taking students and funds away from failing public schools has stirred much debate and created some odd alliances among Democrats and Republicans.
However, the District’s schools are in such a condition that anything that provides even the image of a solution begins to look attractive. Some people are willing to try just about anything.
Mayor Anthony Williams, along with several prominent Democratic members of the Senate, including Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), have voiced their approval for the plan. It’s unusual to see the “leaders” of the Democratic Party supporting a pet plan of the Republican establishment.
Lieberman’s stance on the vouchers issue may affect his campaign for president. His stance will likely cost him union support. Recently, he was booed at an AFL-CIO candidate forum because of his support of vouchers. The National Education Association, with 2.7 million members, has yet to endorse a candidate. If Lieberman votes in favor of D.C. vouchers, it will most likely cost him the endorsement of the NEA as well.
And so the Senate is poised to vote, with little chance of political fallout. The D.C. appropriations bill that includes $13 million for the school vouchers program could be up for a vote as soon as next week. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is expected to filibuster the vote, and Senate Democrats are vowing to defeat it. But, it is looking like it is possible for the bill to squeak by in the Senate, just as it did in the House.
It’s another example of the District being jerked around by the Republican majority in Congress. Perhaps staffers in Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert’s office get a sick thrill out of making the District a guinea pig for programs promoted by the far right.
Regardless of whether vouchers are the best solution for inner-city schools-which is up for much debate-this plan is being forced down the throat of the city. Congress is on the brink of passing a measure that has peen opposed by the D.C. school board, many D.C. council members, and the District’s non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton. The city is helpless, as are its 500,000 residents who have no voice to object.
