About the Scholarships

Opportunity Scholarships are a matter of justice, giving low-income children new opportunities and hope for them and their families. Low-income students receive up to $7,500 for tuition and some fees for a non-public school. (The gap between a scholarship and the full cost of education is funded by the archdiocese and schools for children attending Catholic schools.)

The program is successful and a lifeline for low-income children in the District of Columbia. A study by the US Department of Education (released April 3, 2009) once again showed high parent satisfaction and important academic progress, particularly in reading, which is the foundation of all learning. This program works. In addition, Opportunity Scholarships cost the city nothing. In fact, the program brings new money to the District. It is part of a three-sector initiative to strengthen all education in the District, with $40 million in extra federal funding for public and charter schools along with $14 million in support for scholarships for low-income students to attend non-public schools.

Congress has now determined current program participants may keep their scholarships until HS graduation, but no new children can receive a scholarship. However, they significantly cut the program funding make it unlikely for there to be enough funds for children in the program to make it through HS graduation.

Losing these scholarships will profoundly harm these children’s education by forcing them from their schools; create an abrupt enrollment loss in several participating schools, thereby de-stabilizing the schools for the future; and have an immediate and significant negative financial impact on the District of Columbia, which will lose millions in education funding and will have to pay millions more when students return to the public schools.

It will take an Act of Congress, signed by President Obama, for the Opportunity Scholarship Program to be authorized (funded and approved) for future years. We need the active support of our city’s leaders to encourage Congress and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to ensure this lifeline continues for our city’s low-income children.

Congress can’t turn its back on our city’s kids. This program works and it is a matter of justice for low-income children. Families need the leadership of DC elected officials to encourage Congress to do the right thing for the kids and reauthorize the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The high price of killing the program

• Losing these scholarships will profoundly harm these children’s education by forcing them from their schools; create an abrupt enrollment loss in several participating schools, thereby de-stabilizing the schools for the future; and have an immediate and significant financial impact on the District of Columbia.

• Of the 1,100 students, 525 attend 20 Catholic schools; without the scholarships, 92 percent of all OSP students would be assigned to a public school that is in “corrective action” under the No Child Left Behind Act. A recent study by the US Department of Education found high parent satisfaction and academic progress, including statistically significant growth in reading for scholarship students. Those gains likely will be lost if this program ends.

• The District not only will lose $14 million in federal Opportunity Scholarship funding, but will lose another $40 million in additional federal funds for public and charter schools that is part of the original legislation. Additionally, the District will have to come up with approximately $20 million to pay for 1,100 students returning to the DC public school system (based on per pupil costs for the DC Public Schools).

• Schools that accepted a large number of Opportunity Scholarship students so the children would have the chance for a better education are at risk if the students suddenly have to pull out because Congress ended their scholarships. Catholic schools in the city are a stable force in their neighborhoods, save DC taxpayers $92 million annually and have a successful track record. The archdiocese provides significant financial support, but does not have the resources to replace what Congress has taken back from families.

Learn more...dispelling the myths