Sen. Toomey: Pleased Holder Backs Down, Louisiana Children Free To Get Better Education

Press Release

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) today welcomed news that Attorney General Eric Holder is dropping a lawsuit that would have trapped 570 needy children in failing public schools solely because of their skin color. The reversal by the Justice Department comes less than a month after Sen. Toomey publicly called for Attorney General Holder to explain the lawsuit.

The Justice Department's decision to quietly drop the lawsuit was reported by the Weekly Standard.

The Louisiana Scholarship Program, launched three years after Hurricane Katrina, grants poor children the opportunity to escape failing public schools and attend a different school chosen by their parents. Last year, the program helped over 5,700 needy children (91 percent of whom are minorities) and raised test scores - all while saving taxpayers $18 million. Attorney General Holder's Justice Department was suing to return 570 of these children to failing schools, on the grounds that it is more important to preserve a school's racial make-up than help children.

In October, Sen. Toomey sent a letter to Attorney General Holder demanding to know why taxpayer dollars were being spent to harm children.

"I am relieved these children will now have the opportunity to get a good education," said Sen. Toomey. "But this chance for a better life should never have been in question in the first place. Our children are not statistics. They deserve the opportunity to escape the cycle of poverty and violence through a good education. The fact that Mr. Holder would block any child from a good education is bad enough. The fact that he tried to do so based solely on the children's race is inexcusable. I am delighted the Justice Department has seen the light and dropped this unfortunate lawsuit."

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