Councilmember Tommy Wells and Board of Education Member Lisa Raymond Address Letter in Opposition to School Vouchers to Senator Durbin

On Monday, November 30th, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells joined Ward 6 State Board of Education Member Lisa Raymond in sending a joint letter in opposition to continuing federal school vouchers in the District of Columbia, citing underperforming private schools and discriminatory employment practices at religious-based schools.

The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) provides vouchers for students to attend private schools. The joint letter noted that some of these schools are seriously deficient, lack accreditation and hire unqualified teachers. Their letter also references a recent report by the General Accountability Office, state that some of the schools:

“Did not meet basic requirements to operate in the District. For example, a few had no certificate of occupancy on file with the District or had certificates that did not specify educational use.”

Wells and Raymond referenced research showing that academically disadvantaged voucher students – those from schools designated "in need of improvement" or with test scores among the lowest one-third of applicants – failed to demonstrate improved performance in private school over their public school peers.

In addition, the joint letter raised concerns of public funds used to support discriminatory employment practices, noting that the Archdiocese of Washington, which operates Catholic schools in the District, has made clear at recent hearings before the Council of the District of Columbia that they will not and currently do not recognize same sex couples or provide employee benefits for same sex spouses.

Stated Wells and Raymond, “It is their clearly espoused doctrine and practice to treat gay and lesbian employees differently from heterosexual employees. We oppose using public funds to support discriminatory practices in our city.”

The full text of the joint letter is printed below:

November 30, 2009

The Honorable Richard Durbin
United States Senate
309 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
 
Dear Senator Durbin:
 
In our individual capacities as elected officials representing the District of Columbia -- as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia and a member of the D.C. State Board of Education serving as the current president -- we are writing to express our strong opposition to the reauthorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP).

We believe the program has placed too many District students in underperforming private schools and supports discriminatory employment practices at religious-based schools, in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act.

DCOSP provides vouchers for students to attend some schools that are seriously deficient. Specifically, these schools were not accredited or even in the process of becoming accredited, and employed teachers who had not graduated from college. According to a report by the General Accountability Office, these schools:

"Did not meet basic requirements to operate in the District. For example, a few had no certificate of occupancy on file with the District or had certificates that did not specify educational use."
 
We acknowledge that some of our publicly funded voucher students attend high-performing private schools. A small minority attend Sidwell Friends, St. Albans, and John Carroll High School. However, too many attend schools with fewer resources and lower standards than those of our public schools. 
 
Furthermore, research has not shown significant improvement among voucher students or sufficient achievement gains over their peers that would justify the program. Rather, the latest research shows that academically disadvantaged voucher students--those from schools designated "in need of improvement" or with test scores among the lowest one-third of applicants--failed to demonstrate improved performance in private school over their public school peers.

In addition, as the Archdiocese of Washington, which operates Catholic schools in the District, made clear at recent hearings on legislation to enact marriage equality for same sex couples, they will not and currently do not recognize same sex couples or provide employee benefits for same sex spouses. It is their clearly espoused doctrine and practice to treat gay and lesbian employees differently from heterosexual employees. It is unclear if and how the doctrine is communicated to students. We oppose using public funds to support discriminatory practices in our city.
 
We hope you will join us in putting an end to this federal subsidy for discriminatory and low-performing schools. We would be pleased to further discuss our concerns, and those of the constituents we represent, with you or your staff, and we thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,

Tommy Wells
Councilmember, Ward 6
Council of the District of Columbia

Lisa Raymond
President & Ward 6 Member
District of Columbia State Board of Education

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