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Washington,
DC–
During
his
keynote
address
this
morning
at
the
American
Enterprise
Institute
(AEI),
U.S.
Senator
Scott
(R-SC)
announced
the
introduction
of
his
Creating
Hope
and
Opportunity
for
Individuals
and
Communities
through
Education
(CHOICE)
Act
part
of
his
Opportunity
Agenda.
With
the
CHOICE
Act,
Senator
Scott, a
leading
voice
for
school
choice
in
the
Senate, looks
to expand
educational
opportunities
for
children
with
disabilities,
children
living
on
military
bases,
and
children
living
in
low-income
communities.
“Access
to
a
quality
education
empowers
individuals,
changes
families
and
strengthens
communities.
I
have
seen
firsthand
in
my
own
life
how
powerful
education
is,
not
just
for
the
individual,
but
for
all
those
connected
to
that
student.
Today,
however,
not
all
of
our
children,
through
no
fault
of
their
own,
have
access
to
a
quality
education
that
allows
them
to
reach
their
full
God-given
potential.
I
believe
that
it
is
critical
that
we
work
together
to
provide
every
child
with
a
good
education
and
not
get
caught
up
in
the
politics.
We
can
do
that
by
providing
parents
and
students
greater
choice
when
it
comes
to
their
education.
My
CHOICE
Act
will
do
that
by
expanding
educational
opportunities
for
children
with
disabilities,
who
live
on
military
bases,
or
are
in
low-income
communities."
When
enacted,
the
CHOICE
Act
will:
Ensure
Children
with
Disabilities
Get
Educational
Options
Best
Suited
for
Them Encourage
states
to
establish
school
choice
programs
for
students
with
disabilities
by
providing
startup
funds
to
support
the
design
and
initial
implementation
of
a
disability
choice
program. Enable
states
that
already
run
disability
school
choice
programs
to
expand
educational
options
for
children
with
special
needs
with
federal
dollars.
Provide
More
Choices
to
Military
Families
As
They
Serve
Their
Country Create
a
pilot
program
under
the
Department
of
Defense
on
at
least
5
bases
without
DoD
Education
Activity
schools
to
provide
scholarships
to
students
in
military
families
on
base
of
up
to
$8,000
for
elementary
and
$12,000
for
high
school.
Expand
Educational
Options
for
Low-Income
Families
in
Washington,
DC Expand
the
successful
DC
Opportunity
Scholarship
Program,
which
has
served
more
than
5,000
low-income
children
in
Washington,
DC,
by
requiring
excess
carry-over
funds
that
are
not
needed
for
the
continuation
of
current
participants’
scholarships
be
used
to
increase
promotion
and
outreach
and
support
more
scholarships. Ensure
children
currently
enrolled
in
private
schools
who
meet
all
of
the
DC
OSP
eligibility
requirements
are
not
unnecessarily
excluded
from
participation.
Senator
Scott
added,
“I
would
like
to
thank
Senators
Lamar
Alexander
(R-TN),
John
Cornyn
(R-TX),
Ted
Cruz
(R-TX),
Jeff
Flake (R-AZ),Orrin
Hatch(R-UT)
and
Marco
Rubio
(R-FL)
for
cosponsoring
the
CHOICE
Act
and
working
with
me
on
this
important
issue.
I
also
look
forward
to
working
with
my
House
counterpart,
Congressman
Todd
Rokita
(R-IN),
the
Chairman
of
the
House
Subcommittee
on
Early
Childhood,
Elementary,
and
Secondary
Education,
to
move
this
important
piece
of
legislation
through
Congress
and
see
its
passage.
I
believe
it
is
an
important
step
towards
making
sure
even
more
children,
regardless
of
their
family
income,
socio-economic
status
or
background
have
greater
access
to
a
quality
education.”
Organizations,
including
the
American
Enterprise
Institute,
Association
of
Christian
Schools
International,
Orthodox
Union,
Heritage
Action,
American
Association
of
Christian
Schools,
Lexington
Institute,
PublicSchoolOptions.org
and
Palmetto
Policy
Forum
in
South
Carolina
stand
in
support
of
the
legislation.
In
supporting
the
CHOICE
Act
reintroduction,
Dr.
Frederick
M.
Hess,
director
of
educational
policy
studies
at
AEI,
noted,
“Senator
Scott’s
CHOICE
Act
is
a
sensible
way
for
the
federal
government
to
make
its
investments
in
K-12
schooling
more
responsive
to
what
families
need.
These
are
measured
proposals
that
will
help
more
students
find
better
schools,
while
respecting
the
limited
nature
of
the
federal
role.
This
is
the
kind
of
legislation
that
signals
to
American
families
that
the
government
is
pursuing
workable
solutions
to
real
problems.”
Enacting
greater
school
choice
options
for
all
students
will
be
a
central
focus
during
Senator
Scott’s
“Choosing
Excellence”
school
choice
forum
to
be
held
on
February
9
featuring
Senate
Education
Committee
Chairman
Lamar
Alexander
(R-TN),
Congresswoman
Cathy
McMorris
Rogers
(R-WA),
Congressman
Luke
Messer
(R-IN),
former
U.S.Secretary
of
Education
Rod
Paige,
Louisiana
Governor
Bobby
Jindal,
Capitol
Preparatory
Founder
and
CEO
Steve
Perry,
Friedman
Foundation
for
Educational
Choice
President
and
CEO
Robert
Enlow
and
others.
More
information,
including
how
to
RSVP,
can
be found
here.
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