School Choice Coalition Targets Durbin, Serrano, Obama

Major New Ad Campaign To Save DC 'Opportunity Scholarships'

• Press Release
• Source: DC Parents for School Choice
• On 4:27 pm EST, Tuesday November 10, 2009

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The local coalition fighting to reauthorize and strengthen the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program today launched a $400,000 television and interactive advertising campaign urging President Obama and Congress to provide low-income District families with access to a quality education.

The campaign, No Excuses: Time for Obama and Congress To Help DC’s Kids, is the second major ad buy for the D.C. coalition, which has also conducted rallies and events attracting more than 10,000 supporters of the OSP.

The ads feature parents who want their children to enjoy the same educational opportunities as President Obama—who used a scholarship to attend a private high school. Click here to view the ads.

“The OSP has literally saved the lives of thousands of low-income children in Washington, D.C by providing them access to a good education,” said coalition leader and former D.C. City Councilman Kevin Chavous. “It is offensive that an Administration who says it will ‘fund what works, regardless of ideology,’ and a Congress that has appropriated hundreds of billions for education in the last 10 months has so far refused to save a program that works for D.C.’s kids. We are running these ads because we won’t stop fighting to keep this program alive for kids who need it the most.”

The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program has helped more than 3,300 children from families with an average annual income of $23,000 attend the best schools they have ever known. The OSP has generated significant community interest, academic results, and public support:

• Nearly 9,000 families have applied to participate over the life of the program.
• The OSP has been rigorously evaluated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences and the Georgetown University/University of Arkansas School Choice Demonstration Project. These studies show clear evidence that participating students are making academic progress and parents are overwhelmingly satisfied.
• The OSP enjoys strong support among D.C.’s elected officials, including Mayor Adrian Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and a majority of the D.C. City Council. Polls in 2007, 2008, and 2009 by separate and unaffiliated organizations show between 66% and 75% of District residents support continuation the program.

“Under the leadership of Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee, our city is implementing dramatic education reforms and it’s essential for the OSP to remain a viable option for low-income families while these reforms take hold,” said D.C. Parents for School Choice President Virginia Walden Ford. “Allowing the OSP to continue only for existing children effectively kills the program and denies educational opportunity to the siblings of these children, as well as those waiting in line and desperate for entry. It is wrong and we urge the Administration and Congress to stand with District families in fully supporting this successful scholarship program.”

The fate of the Opportunity Scholarship Program lies with President Obama, and with Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Jose Serrano, key members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Senator Joe Lieberman and Rep. John Boehner have introduced formal reauthorization bills in the Senate and House; and the Lieberman bill’s bipartisan cosponsors include Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Robert Byrd, George Voinovich, and John Ensign.

For more information, visit www.SaveSchoolChoice.com

DC Parents for School Choice
Andrew Campanella, 202-276-1303
andrew@ccgstrategies.com
or
Ashley Ehrenreich, 202-431-0567
SchoolChoiceAshley@gmail.com