Few things cause the normally mild-mannered Virginia Walden Ford to take to Twitter to correct the record but an anti-school choice tweet by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) led her to do just that.
Walden Ford, the real-life trailblazer portrayed by Emmy winning actress Uzo Aduba in the 2019 Netflix movie “Miss Virginia,” led the fight to create and launch the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) for K-12 students in the nation’s capital in 2004. She never imagined that what started as an effort to give her son access to better educational options and a safe school environment would continue long after he graduated from high school.
Despite the fact that the District of Columbia Public School system (DCPS) annually spends over $27,000 per pupil, only 20% of eighth-graders are proficient in math and reading. In contrast, the maximum scholarship amount for a DCOSP recipient is $13, 287. Significant savings for taxpayers, increased parental satisfaction and higher graduation rates clearly illustrate the efficacy of the nation’s only federally funded school choice program.
Congresswoman Holmes Norton has been steadfastly opposed to school choice programs in her district. Despite parental pleas and bipartisan support, she refused to support the DCOSP at its inception and blasted a recent bill to fund education savings accounts (ESA) for children who feel unsafe in their D.C. public school.
On Twitter, Congresswoman Holmes Norton tweeted….
Walden Ford, who is currently touring the country in support of the movie about her inspirational journey, responded…
Corey DeAnglis, an adjunct scholar at the Cato’s Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, echoed Walden Ford’s words and noted the following:
Parents of current DCOSP students are meeting with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and other Members next week (March 9-13) to deliver letters of support and ask her to reconsider her opposition to the program. Miss Virginia may not live in D.C. anymore but her legacy lives on in the spirits of the families continuing to fight for their children’s future.