Senator Johnson Reintroduces Reauthorization of SOAR Act

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) has reintroduced a bill to reauthorize the Scholarships for Opportunities and Results (SOAR)  Act, also known as the DC Voucher program. The SOAR Act is the only federal education voucher program and it provides scholarships to private schools for children in Washington, DC. The bill, S. 69, increases annual funding for the program and lessens general accountability including removing standardized testing requirements by substituting "shall" for "may administer." The voucher program is held to even less rigor in this proposed bill by substituting vague language for specific evaluation methods such as quasi-experimental research designs or no longer requiring the use of standardized testing. Countless studies have shown that the program is ineffective, unaccountable, and poorly managed.

CEC, along with the National Coalition for Public Schools, opposes this and other voucher programs because students with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act lose their civil rights protections, and because the focus of public funding should be on public education. 

Read S.69 here.

Read the most recent coalition letter in opposition to the SOAR Act here.