Bush Says School Voucher Programs Send a Message
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WASHINGTON — President Bush said Friday the first federal experiment in school vouchers will liberate District of Columbia families and fuel the school choice movement.
“This initiative is one that’s the beginning of what I hope is change all across the country,” Bush said about the emerging private-school voucher plan in the nation’s capital.
At Archbishop Carroll High School, Bush said such programs send a message that “we want our public schools to succeed.... But ... we’re going to raise the bar and raise expectations. And when we find children trapped in schools that will not change, parents must be given another viable option.”
Bush has asked for $50 million in the next budget year for local voucher initiatives, which allow students to attend private and religious schools at public expense. The Democratic rivals for his job oppose vouchers.
The District’s program will provide vouchers to at least 1,700 poor students who are now part of a chronically struggling system of 65,000 students.
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