Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. ENSIGN. Madam President, I wish to talk about my amendment dealing with the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. Unfortunately, if the current bill should pass, this program will end. There is specific language in the bill that says unless this program is reauthorized and the DC City Council approves it, 1,700 children will lose their opportunity scholarships that allow them to attend a private school in the District of Columbia. That is unfortunate, and that is why my amendment must be adopted.

When we take a close look at the data on DC schools, it is no wonder the DC opportunity scholarship parents are so vocal about keeping this program alive. Here in the District of Columbia, public schools spend, on average, over $14,000 per year per student. The DC class size has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the country, 14 to 1. Yet reading scores continue to languish at or near the bottom in every national assessment. Recent data shows that 69 percent of fourth graders in the DC Public Schools are reading below basic levels as defined by the Department of Education. DC students in DC Public Schools ranked last in the Nation in both SAT and ACT scores. About 42 percent of DC students drop out of school.

Beyond the low performance in the classroom, DC schools are often violent and dangerous. A Federal government study found that roughly 12 percent of DC students were threatened or injured by someone possessing a weapon on school property during a recent school year. This percentage is well above the national average. Perhaps, it is because of these statistics, that President Obama chose to enroll both his daughters in a private school.

Let's see what his Secretary of Education said about the DC scholarship program:

I don't think it makes sense to take kids out of a school where they're happy and safe and satisfied and learning. I think those kids need to stay in their school.

Secretary Duncan was referring to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, the same program we are trying to save today.

Michelle Rhee, the Chancellor of DC city schools said:

I would never, as long as I am in this role, do anything to limit another parent's ability to make a choice for their child. Ever.

That is what she said.

DC Mayor Fenty said:

We should not disrupt the education of children who are presently enrolled in private schools through the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Last Friday, Senator Durbin, the senior Senator from Illinois, made some charges against this DC Opportunity Scholarship Program that I wish to address. Senator Durbin claims the program doesn't work. He claimed the Department of Education study proves the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program doesn't work. What Senator Durbin failed to mention were some of the fundamental flaws of the Department of Education study. First, the study fails to examine the performance of students who actually took advantage of the scholarship and actually attended private school versus the performance of those who attended public schools. Instead, it compares the students who were just offered the scholarships to those in public schools. In fact, over a quarter of the students who were considered private school participants for purposes of this study did not even attend the private schools.

This study has many flaws and we could go through all of them. How can the program be considered not working yet there are 1,700 kids whose parents showed they are satisfied and that think their kids are getting a better education? The parents are happier, and they can sleep well knowing their kids are going to safer schools. I believe that if there were more than 1,700 scholarships available, there would be a lot more people who would be enrolled in the program because of the satisfaction of both the parents and the teachers.

According to the Heritage Foundation, 37 percent of the members in the House of Representatives and 45 percent of Senators send their children to private schools. That is almost four times the rate of the general population. The senior Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin, stated on Friday that he and his wife sent their children to private Catholic schools. He said this was their choice, and it was a personal family decision. I respect Senator Durbin's choice to send his own children to private schools, but why should the choice to send children to private schools be the right of only a privileged Senator's family or those who make a lot of money?

Keep in mind, the 1,700 children we are talking about come from families whose average income is less than $23,000 a year. A good education is a civil right, and this should not be the exclusive purview of the rich or the well connected.

Before closing, I wish to highlight some of the stories of success in the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program so it can be clear who is losing out because of the Democrats' efforts to kill the Program. I wish to put some names with some of the faces and show how important this program truly is.

Sarah and James Parker attend the Sidwell Friends School in our Nation's Capital with President Obama's children. Here they are right here. Unlike the Obama girls, they could not afford this school without the $7,500 voucher they received from the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. Now, keep in mind, these two students are funded at half what it costs to send a child to DC Public Schools. Every time we take these students out of the public schools in Washington, the DC Public Schools save money. So why would we want to end this program? Plus the fact that these kids love going to school where they are going.

Now, Sanya Arias is a scholarship recipient who lives in Adams Morgan. She said some of her friends she went to school with in middle school and who now attend public high school speak using profanities and aren't making the kind of progress she is making academically. This is Sanya, here. Sanya said in middle school she started slacking off and she would have probably followed her friends' path if she didn't receive the scholarship to attend private school. Sanya currently has a GPA of 3.95. She is vice president of her class, captain of the soccer team, a player on the lacrosse team, president of the International Club, and a peer minister. This is the type of student the Democrats are going to take out of a school that she loves so much.

Rashawn is 16 years of age and started school in 1996. His father had him tested and found he was 3 years behind his grade level. The scholarship program gave him the opportunity to attend Academia De La Recta Christian Day School where Rashawn has said: ``I can now do my classwork with very little help'' because of this scholarship.

Dominique, who is Rashawn's sister, is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Washington, DC. She is now attending the same school and, in Dominique's own words, she says: ``I love my school, and I am working on my level and my grade.''

Breanna Williams is a 9-year-old girl in the fourth grade. She loves her new school, St. Peter's, because she is getting all As and Bs. She loves to read and is doing that at a level above her grade. In addition, Breanna plays the clarinet in the school band and when Breanna grows up, she wants to be a translator who travels the world.

I would be remiss if I did not reintroduce you to Ronald Holassie. He is a 10th grader at Archbishop Carroll High School in the District, where he is thriving--running track, studying physics, mentoring middle-school students. Further, he has just been appointed as DC's deputy youth mayor. Ronald said that maintaining the DC opportunity scholarship is his chief legislative priority. Ending the program will send Ronald, who is just a sophomore, to Woodson High School, a failing school under the No Child Left Behind Act, for his senior year.

Individually and collectively, these students demonstrate just how important it is to continue the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program and just how wrong the program's opponents are to eliminate it for political purposes. We should continue this scholarship program and help students like the ones I just pointed out--help them to continue to succeed and to develop in our Nation's Capital. I ask President Obama and the Democrats to keep Sarah, James, Sanya, Rashawn, Dominique, Breanna, and Ronald in mind before deciding to kill the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. I ask my colleagues to please join me in supporting this critical program.

Madam President, I will close with this. I met Ronald last week. I met him and his folks. I met his little brother who is also in the program. I looked in their eyes and saw their heartfelt pleas to keep this program going. I challenge any member to look into their eyes and then vote against this program. We should be putting kids before special interest groups. Shouldn't our educational system be about kids? Shouldn't it be about their education and providing them the opportunities to compete in the 21st century?

I think the people who are against this program are afraid of this program for one reason--because it is actually working. This program is very popular. The senior Senator from Illinois sends his kids to private school. Parents choose to send their kids to private schools because they want better education for their kids.

Let's give these children a chance at a better education. Let's prove that it is working. Let's study the students and the program. Don't stop this program when it is still in its infancy. Let's decide how we need to measure it, prove it is working or not working. But I predict that at the end of the day, if we really follow these kids in an objective manner, we will show this program has great promise, and maybe we can even take it to other places in the country and help other low-income kids get a better chance at a better education.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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Mr. ENSIGN. I thank Senator Durbin for yielding.

Madam President, is the Senator aware that in all of the private schools these kids are attending the core subject teachers have 4-year degrees and that it was only in subjects such as art and wood shop that they did not necessarily have 4-year degrees? Madam President, I ask the Senator from Illinois, through the Chair, whether he is aware of that.

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I say to the Senator from Nevada that the complement of teachers in the DC voucher schools has changed and improved over the years, there is no question about that. But it is also true to say that the standards imposed on the DC public school teachers are not being followed by the teachers in the DC voucher schools. We have created a double standard.

As far as I am concerned, if you are arguing that we shouldn't require all teachers to have the appropriate academic credentials based on the course they teach, I ask in response, through the Chair, is that the standard you are suggesting for your home State of Nevada?

Mr. ENSIGN. Madam President, I actually send my kids to schools where not all of the teachers in core subjects have 4-year degrees. But if a teacher is teaching art, if a teacher is teaching woodshop, or some other kind of program, I would ask: Does the Senator from Illinois really believe imposing that on private schools is necessary?

You send your kids to private schools just as I am sending my kids to private schools. We sent them where we thought they would get a good education. Does the Senator think these parents who are taking advantage of these programs don't care enough about their kids to send them to the best schools? That is why they are choosing to get them out of public schools. Wouldn't the Senator from Illinois agree those are wise parents signing up voluntarily for this program because they care about their kids?

Mr. DURBIN. I would like to respond to the Senator--I know our time is about to end--by saying that when the GAO did their study, incidentally, they found what you stated on the floor was not exactly the case. It turned out there were teachers in so-called ``core academic subjects'' without college degrees. Those subjects include English, reading, and language arts, math, science, foreign language, civics and government, economics, art, history, and geography. That is the definition of core academic subjects. And the teachers in many voucher schools did not meet those requirements.

I might also say to the Senator from Nevada that my wife and I made a personal decision to send our children to Catholic schools, knowing we would be paying public property taxes in my hometown of Springfield, IL, to support public education, and we had an additional financial burden on our family to pay for tuition, as you have. We accepted that burden, and I believe it is part of the bargain. We support public education, but we made a family decision to pay for our kids to go to Catholic schools.

I have supported public school referenda throughout my time in my hometown. I believe public education is the core when it comes to the development of the community. In my hometown of East St. Louis, when the public schools went to Haiti, the Catholic schools followed quickly behind. They are all in this together.

Madam President, I know we have run out of time.

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