Washington
In
conjunction
with
National
School
Choice
Week,
U.S.
Senator
Tim
Scott
(R-SC)
today
introduced
the
Creating
Hope
and
Opportunity
for
Individuals
and
Communities
through
Education
Act
(S.
235),
or
CHOICE
Act.
The
CHOICE
Act
would
give
military
families,
families
of
students
with
disabilities,
and
low-income
students
in
Washington,
D.C.
together
totaling
more
than
6.2
million
students
nationwide
-
access
to
greater
educational
opportunity.
“Every
single
student
deserves
access
to
a
quality
education,”
Senator
Scott
said.
“We
must
make
sure
our
education
system
is
designed
with
that
one,
single
concept
in
mind,
and
my
CHOICE
Act
will
help
unlock
the
potential
of
students
who
might
otherwise
be
left
behind.
I
look
forward
to
working
with
soon
to
be
confirmed
Education
Secretary
Betsy
DeVos
on
this
bill
and
other
issues
critical
to
the
future
of
our
children.”
The
Senate
also
unanimously
passed
Senator
Scott’s
resolution
declaring
this
week
“National
School
Choice
Week.”
The
full
text
of
the
resolution
can
be
found
here.
For
the
approximately
6
million
students
with
disabilities
between
the
ages
of
6-21,
the
CHOICE
Act
encourages
states
to
establish
school
choice
programs
by
providing
startup
funds
to
support
the
design
and
initial
implementation
of
a
disability
choice
program.
It
also
enables
states
that
already
run
disability
school
choice
programs
to
use
federal
IDEA
funds
to
expand
their
options
even
further.
With
nearly
200,000
children
living
on
domestic
military
installations,
it
is
vital
that
our
men
and
women
serving
in
the
military
know
their
children
are
receiving
the
best
possible
education.
The
CHOICE
Act
creates
a
Department
of
Defense
pilot
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.
To
ensure
accountability
and
transparency,
it
also
requires
an
annual
report
and
a
final
report
on
participation
numbers,
applicants,
participating
schools,
and
parental
satisfaction.
Since
2004,
the
Washington
DC
Opportunity
Scholarship
Program
(DC
OSP)
has
served
more
than
5,000
low-income
children
and
has
become
a
model
for
effective
public
scholarship
programs.
A
majority
of
OSP
scholarships
serve
minority
families,
and
the
average
income
for
OSP
families
is
approximately
$21,000
a
year.
Since
2011,
graduation
rates
in
Washington
public
schools
stayed
between
55
and
70
percent,
whereas
for
OSP
students
those
rates
skyrocket
to
more
than
90
percent.
The
CHOICE
Act
clarifies
that
students
previously
attending
private
school
are
not
excluded
from
participating
in
the
OSP
program,
so
long
as
they
meet
the
requirements
of
being
a
low-income
resident
of
Washington,
DC.
Seven
Senators
are
original
cosponsors
of
the
CHOICE
Act,
including:
Alexander
(TN),
Boozman
(AR),
Cornyn
(TX),
Cruz
(TX),
Hatch
(UT),
McConnell
(KY)
and
Wicker
(MS).
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