The Obama administration has agreed to preserve Washington, D.C.’s private school voucher program despite the president's past opposition to the measure. The Associated Press reports:
The White House has reversed course and agreed to continue funding private school vouchers for a select number of children in the District of Columbia. …
The Obama administration included no funding for new students to enter the program in its proposed budget. But supporters of the program in Congress announced Monday that they’ve reached a deal with the Department of Education that allows the program to continue and take on new students.
Mayor Vincent Gray and other local leaders oppose the vouchers, saying the money would be better spent on the district’s public and charter schools.
Last March, Speaker John Boehner led the House of Representatives to pass a bill to fund the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships Program, which stopped accepting new students in 2009. At the time, Obama said that he "strongly opposed" it.
