What is the purpose of the DC School Choice Incentive Program?
The purpose of the initiative is (1) to give the parents of DC school children the opportunity to exercise greater choice in the education of their children and (2) to provide an opportunity to test and evaluate a program of expanded educational choice in a low-performing school district. Toward that end, the program will give private school scholarships to DC school children, and an independent entity will conduct a scientific evaluation of the impact of the program both on scholarship recipients and on the DC public school system. The US Department of Education and the Government of the District of Columbia will collaborate in implementing this program, which is part of a broader, three-pronged initiative, contained in the FY 2004 DC Appropriations Act, to strengthen elementary and secondary education in the District.
