NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2004

Education Secretary Rod Paige said the D.C. voucher program, to be launched this fall, would offer "emancipation" to hundreds of poor and minority students and allow them to "throw off the chains of a school system that has not served them well."

The $13 million congressional plan creates vouchers for at least 1,700 poor students in the district, where 65,000 children attend classes in traditional public schools. The district also gets $1 million for administrative costs as part of this first federally financed voucher plan. Students must gain admission to a private school and cover any costs exceeding their vouchers.

'Obstruction and Sabotage'

"This plan must be given every chance to work," Paige said in comments to be delivered at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "The future of our children is at stake, and it would be unconscionable to work against their best interests, to desire failure, to actively labor for obstruction and sabotage.

"I respectfully warn those in Congress and the District who ponder such continued political warfare that their actions will not stop us," Paige said.

Paige's comments reflect the latest push by the Bush administration to frame vouchers as a way to empower parents and spur improvements in a government educational "monopoly." Bush has proposed $50 million for voucher experiments in other communities in the next budget year.

Critics say vouchers take money from the place it is needed the most, struggling public schools, and they find it galling that the nation's education chief helps lead the charge.

The District of Columbia plan drew mixed response from local officials, and the capital city has no voting member in Congress. The House approved the voucher plan by a single vote in September. The Senate never took a straight vote on the plan, as Democrats put off that action, but the Senate approved the vouchers last week as part of a massive spending bill.

Paige said the experiment "isn't about dismantling the public school system. And this isn't a plan to federalize the schools." Rather, he said, it is a means to offer choice to those who couldn't afford it otherwise.

"When students are required by law to attend a particular school, the school doesn't have to do anything to secure quality or produce scholarship," Paige said. "It just has to open the door and collect the local and state stipend for each student."

Paige and the district's mayor, Anthony Williams, are assigned to work out many details of the voucher program, including how an independent group will be chosen to oversee it. Paige said he expected the joint agreement to be signed within a few days.

© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Editor's note:
Urgent: President Bush needs your support – Click Here Now and show your support to your friends and family

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration
School Choice