According to The Examiner, 47,000 children will be returning to failing schools in the District. It baffles me that this debate still exists and that lawmakers are still failing to see the benefits that school choice has for these low-income families.
“Despite the high price of a public education in D.C., the 2007 National Assessment of Education Progress which administers math and reading tests to fourth- and eighth-graders, D.C. students scored lower than students in any of the 50 states.
Sadly, only 12 percent of D.C. eighth-graders were rated as “grade-level “proficient” or better in reading, and only 8 percent in math.”
School choice for the 1,715 students in the District, has brought a new ounce of hope into the lives of these children. They can choose not to attend a failing school and instead one that works for them and help further their education.
About half of D.C. public school students attend schools outside their neighborhood according to WUSA 9. They reported that the District of Columbia’s Mayor, Adrian Fenty’s children are not attending the school closest to their home, West Elementary School. Instead his 9-year-old twin sons are attending Lafayette Elementary School in Chevy Chase known for their high standardized test scores. If Mayor Fenty gets to practice school choice, so should the other families in the District especially low-income families? Every child deserves a choice and a chance.