House Passes Bill Helping DC Children “SOAR”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4901, The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Reauthorization Act sponsored by Oversight and Government Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).  The legislation reauthorizes the three-sector approach to education in the District of Columbia (DC) for five years by allocating equal funding to DC public schools, DC public charter schools, and the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).  The OSP provides scholarships to students from low-income families to attend a DC private school. In 2015, ninety percent of OSP students graduated from high school. On average, ninety-two percent of OSP graduates enroll in a college or university.

Support Letters:
Mayor Muriel Bowser
American Federation for Children
DC Catholic Conference
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
National Coalition for Parental Choice
Thurgood Marshall College Fund
Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America

Background:

H.R. 4901 is substantially similar to H.R. 10 which passed the House in October, 2015. Bipartisan changes were made with the Senate to strengthen the bill to provide for greater transparency and accountability requirements for the OSP, stronger accreditation language for the OSP, and to clarify congressional intent regarding access to the OSP and access to OSP carryover funds.