Chairmen, Norton Request Documents from Secretary DeVos on D.C. School Voucher Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 29, 2019

Contacts

Aryele Bradford (Cummings)

Jack Miller (Norton)

Stephanie Lalle (Scott)

Chairmen, Norton Request Documents from Secretary DeVos on D.C. School Voucher Program

Washington, D.C. (Mar. 29, 2019)— Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos requesting documents and information on the federal private school voucher program in the District of Columbia. Authorization for the voucher program expires on September 30, 2019.

Cummings, Scott, and Norton wrote: “The SOAR Act imposes on the Department of Education oversight and reporting requirements for the D.C. voucher program. We are seeking information on the performance of this program and the Department’s oversight efforts. In addition, we are seeking to better understand whether students participating in the D.C. voucher program are afforded the same protections as public school students in Washington, D.C., including by federal civil rights laws and safety regulations.”

The District of Columbia voucher program is the nation’s only federally funded or federally created voucher program. Since 2004, Congress has appropriated more than $200 million for the program.

Click here to read today’s letter.

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