STATEMENT FROM RNC CHAIRMAN STEELE REGARDING PRESIDENT'S POSITION ON DC SCHOOL VOUCHERS

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele released the following statement today:

“No one should be fooled into believing that President Obama’s ‘extension’ of Washington, D.C.’s school voucher program is a victory for students or a step toward better education in the District of Columbia. It’s not, and denying District schoolchildren who are currently outside of the program the right and ability to attend better schools is nothing to celebrate. If the president is serious about finding budget cuts, he should start by reducing his own proposals for reckless spending programs, not by eliminating a modest program for a limited number of children from very low-income families who otherwise would be condemned to failing schools.

The president’s decision to end the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program leaves future DC students and parents with less choice and less opportunity to get a better education.

Rather than stand up to do what is right, President Obama, who has written two books—one with a title of ‘Hope’ and the other of ‘Dreams’—has pledged to deny the hopes and dreams of poor, minority families who simply seek the opportunity that I had, the opportunity that he himself had, and the opportunity that we all seek for our own children—a better education.

The president should ask Congress to reverse course and reinstitute this important education initiative so District schoolchildren get the quality education they want and deserve.”