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Boehner urges Dem support for DC school choice bill

by Elliot Smilowitz - 10/24/15 7:15 AM ET

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will leave the House continuing to promote a Washington, D.C., school voucher program that he has long championed.

Days before he will step down as Speaker, Boehner used Saturday’s weekly Republican address to tout the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which the House voted to reauthorize this week.

{mosads}The bill allots $60 million through 2021 for the program, which allows low-income students in the District of Columbia to attend private schools using taxpayer-funded vouchers.

“It is the only program in America where the federal government allows low-income families to choose the schools that are best for their kids,” Boehner said.

“The program has truly made a difference,” he added. “All told, some 6,100 students have gone to better schools using these scholarships. Last spring, 90 percent of 12th graders in the program graduated. That’s much higher than the city’s average graduation rate.”

The House legislation, which passed 240-191 on Wednesday, faces long odds in the Senate. And the Obama administration has expressed opposition to the bill, though it has not pledged to veto it.

“Instead of using federal resources to support a handful of students in private schools, the federal government should focus its attention and available resources on improving the quality of public schools for all students,” the White House said in a Statement of Administration Policy.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), D.C.’s non-voting representative in the House, slammed the chamber’s vote Wednesday.

“We are here so that Speaker John Boehner has a capstone to his own political career. The D.C. voucher program is his pet project, not D.C.’s,” Norton said.

She added that the city itself, not members of Congress, “know best what our children need.”

Boehner intends to step down as Speaker on Friday — a move he first announced last month. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is the overwhelming favorite to win the Speakership.

Tags John Boehner school vouchers