The emerging centerpiece of education reform in the United States is parental school choice. All over this country, progressive, forward-looking public officials are supporting legislation that expands quality educational options for the children of working-class parents. It is finally sinking in that more quality options lead to improvements in traditional school districts.

For instance, legislators in Alabama and Mississippi are responding to parents’ outcry and are close to passing the first-ever meaningful charter school bills in those states. Similarly, just last week, a bipartisan group of legislators in the Louisiana House of Representatives passed a measure designed to expand statewide the successful New Orleans voucher program. Today, a growing number of leaders are realizing that true education reform includes long-range, systemic change along with immediate relief for families in need. Yes, we must fly the plane while we fix it.

Here, in the District, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of providing quality educational options, through innovative charter schools and our highly successful, federally funded D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, through which more than 1,600 low-income children attend quality private schools. But all of that is being threatened by Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D).

The release of Mr. Gray’s 2013 budget proposal makes clear that parental choice is no longer a priority of his administration. In the proposal, he breaches a promise made to charter school supporters by not closing the funding disparity between charter schools and traditional D.C. public schools.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Mr. Gray’s proposal also zeroes out the funding for the scholarship program — matching what President Obama did in his budget. This action could ultimately imperil $60 million in federal funds intended to support D.C. charter schools, D.C. Public Schools and the scholarship program. This three-sector initiative has brought in more than $300 million in federal funds to our city for educational improvement since 2004 and has helped thousands of children gain access to a good education.

As the chief executive of the city, it’s Mr. Gray’s job to do what’s best for the city, regardless of what the president proposes. Why would he jeopardize funds from the federal government that raise all boats?

We strongly urge the mayor to remember what is important. It is not where a child is educated, it is about ensuring that every child has equal access to a high-quality education. That’s the power of parental choice and the reason that the District has been a model for providing these options to parents.

Instead of removing these options or watering them down, the mayor should be standing with the parents, their kids and the vast majority of D.C. residents who support all forms of parental school choice. Let’s also hope that during the city’s budget process, the D.C. Council fixes what the mayor is trying to break.

Kevin P. Chavous and Donald L. Hense, Washington

Kevin P. Chavous is a former D.C. Council member (D-Ward 7) and a senior adviser to the American Federation for Children. Donald L. Hense is the co-founder and board chair of Friendship Public Charter Schools.

(In another bit of Maine news, yesterday, the state legislature again denied families another form school choice when their Education Committee endorsed an “innovative schools” bill which had all references to charter school removed before moving on to the main body.)

Sen. Dorgan thinks public education is something it’s not. He remembers his own school days and thinks classrooms in DC must be reminiscent of his youth in North Dakota. How wrong he is….

The lesson was right in front of him, but perhaps Sen. Dorgan was chatting in the cloakroom with his anti-voucher buddies when a truly esteemed Senator spoke and eloquently described the true need for DC school vouchers. Perhaps he missed the oversized posters that the venerable Sen. Dianne Feinstein brought with her to the well of the Senate today – posters that depicted parents and kids who can’t, as he posited, just “pay for the tuition” themselves – but whose futures have been saved by the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Did he miss it? Or does he choose to ignore it?

So while Byron “Lost in Space” Dorgan prattled on with a strange, troubling analogy – which included the argument that the US has talented astronauts, therefore DC kids do not deserve vouchers – the only man in either chamber of Congress who has actually flown in space, real astronaut Bill Nelson (D-FL), voted in favor of the the DCOSP tonight. We suppose he’s much more grounded now than Sen. Dorgan.

Serrano is suddenly the focus of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program‘s supporters, forced by the unique circumstances of the federal government’s oversight of the District of Columbia, which he manages as chair of a nebulous Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. Serrano is apparently angered that this position begets him calls from all over the nation – from people of all stripes and walks of life, who want children to have what they deserve and rarely get in the District’s traditional public schools – a good education that is also safe, also preparatory for life.

Serrano’s attitude to these calls – and the children affected – can best be considered ignorance. He says that local people should lobby their local leaders, as if their local leaders have the authority to spend federal money. By doing so, he also ignores that local people HAVE lobbied local leaders – tens of thousands of them – and those local leaders have endorsed the program and written Congress about that endorsement. The Mayor, the Chancellor of the city’s schools, a majority of the City Council, the former Mayor, the former City Council Education Chair, the Mayor’s staff. These are not Republicans, as Serrano wants us all to believe. These are Democrats, and predominantly people of color, who understand and care deeply about the people of this city, and who are happy to draw help from anyone who can or would want to help them, regardless of affiliation.

That’s what it means to be a true democrat – an individual open to many viewpoints and voices, which apparently, Serrano is not.

Finally, a word from a person who actually has deeper roots in the Bronx than he. My grandparents settled in the Bronx in the early part of the last century, and my mother was raised there. I grew up attending family functions in the Bronx. The area started as an enclave for European immigrants and over time, evolved into an enclave for immigrants from throughout our continent, drawing people of Latino descent from throughout the Hemisphere. But the people who populate the area are no less interested in great education than my ancestors. And today, despite the best of intentions by area leaders, the Bronx is ailing, with poverty and gangs just two of the indicators. But schools are slowly helping turn around the younger generation, thanks to charter schools that the city, the state, and education entrepreneurs have worked together to create. This is just one form of choice that exists. The same people Congressman Serrano proudly represent also draw heavily on Catholic schools. They would probably shudder if they knew that their Congressman opposed any opportunity out of poverty for those disadvantaged by circumstance, in any city. Indeed, Serrano’s own constituents rely heavily upon religious institutions to help them provide food, shelter, clothing and all social services to their community. Not one block in the Bronx is without a religious organization, most of which draw federal and state funds to help the state administer programs for the needy.

Such aid seems not to bother Congressman Serrano, even though the same principle is at work in the DC scholarship program he apparently abhors. That program provides federal funds in the form of scholarships to ensure that more children have access to poverty-fighting institutions, and they are only spent by the choice of Americans, living in the District, who want something better for their children.

And so I ask you, Congressman Serrano — How dare you write that this is a program whose fate lies in the hands of local leaders when you’ve made it clear you control the appropriations process for DC programs like this one? How dare you say this is a program that was imposed on the District by Republicans, when the individuals who fought tirelessly for years to see it enacted, and who still lobby you for its continuation are as varied in their composition as the neighborhood you call home?

Oppose the program if you wish, but don’t lie and say you do so because the program was imposed by Republicans and not supported locally. Tell the truth. And then stop complaining about how many calls you are getting from people around the country that support the program.  They pay your salary, and they want you to do your job, objectively, and without bias. And with appreciation for the needs of the people you serve.

While there may be a legitimate question of the program’s transparency, if that truly is an obstacle to continuation, it is one that can easily be removed. What cannot be questioned is the fact that DC OSP families have seen the education and futures of their students dramatically changed for the better because of their participation.

Perhaps the most scrutinized and vetted federal education reform program in history, mountains of research and hours of testimony before Congress by experts, educators, parents and students should speak for itself, pointing to increased student achievement, safety and satisfaction.

This small $14 million program has proven itself to be effective on many levels, and yet billions upon billions are heaped into pork legislation, pet projects and favors without so much as a raised eyebrow? This year, public schools across the country have been the recipients of the largest influx of monies ever allotted to education. Rather than fighting what works, Senator Durbin and his teachers union supporters would better serve the kids he so strongly “defends” in his war on the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program by thoroughly following the $100 billion pledged to the country’s schools and ensuring that it not continue to fund failing and broken programs.

Save Opportunity

“You can go to the NAACP and say a lot, but it’s what you do (that matters),” countered Steele when Matthews praised the hardball words of Obama in New York.

Chris Matthews was right on target with the issue, said it was an area he and Steele agreed upon, that “Opportunity Scholarships should be maintained”, and pointed out it was the education Sonia Sotomayor received at Cardinal Spellman High School, a Catholic school in the Bronx, that was a key factor in her success.

Chris Matthews and Michael Steele join a growing list of powerful endorsements for scholarships providing a way out – and a way up – for DC students.

How many more need to speak out before the Administration and Congress listen?

Take a look for yourself (discussion of DCOSP begins at the 6:45 mark).

(a folk song for DC school choice)

If I had a hammer

I’d hammer in the morning

I’d hammer in the evening

All over this land

I’d hammer out danger

I’d hammer out a warning

I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters

All over this land

The Department’s sympathy note contained three interesting tidbits:

1) It was dated April 6 – three days after a government evaluation of D.C. OSP showcased the effectiveness of the program. Knowing that no government agency could approve even a small letter without an amazing amount of revision and drafting, the DOE must have chosen not to reveal this (none too small) bit of information in their burial of the report.

2) Further, one sentence in the letter reads: “Enrollment for DCPS begins on April 1, 2009.” First of all, does this hint at the fact that the letter may have been in early drafts prior to April? How long has this plan been in motion? Secondly, this information can’t be helpful to parents. It’s like receiving a 30-day notice after you’ve been evicted – more than a little too late.

3) Co-signed by Jim Shelton (formerly program director of the Education Division at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and East Coast partner of the NewSchools Venture Fund), it is the only official notice we’ve seen of the fact that Duncan has filled the post of Assistant Deputy Secretary for OII. (Thanks for the heads up!)

The irony of the letter’s close would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad:

“We hope this information is helpful and look forward to working with you so that you can make the best choices for your child for the 2009-2010 school year.”

The Denver Post today, like Toto in The Wizard of Oz, pulls back the curtain on the image of Duncan as reformer to reveal some hard truths behind the talking points.  Like many of us, they wanted to know why a Congressionally mandated report on the DC voucher program – providing evidence of success – was released on a Friday, after Congress recessed, and as millions of Americans were leaving for their spring breaks.  Duncan denied knowing about the findings, though senior department officials have had a chance to review them since November.  Even if they deliberately kept it from the Secretary, it still begs the question as to why, knowing the Congress was moving to kill it, did he not ask where the study results were?  As the Denver Post columnist argues, Duncan discards the program as being too small to care about.  He dances around his opposition by advocating that kids already in the program continue — without demanding legislation that would allow that to happen, by the way.  Thus my colleagues’ “hopes” that he’ll come around, that reason will prevail.  They are so blinded by their dreams for this Administration that they find it impossible to believe its people could oppose something so good.

But put choice aside for a moment.  Real education reformers don’t blanket advocate for a longer school day and longer school year without noting that neither will make a difference if the school to which students are assigned lacks all rigor and accountability.  A real reformer would’ve used his clout as superintendent of his state’s largest public school system to demand that his state legislators lift the cap on charter schools before he left that state – perhaps even with the help of a sitting US Senator or two to pressure their state colleagues in return for recognition once they become president (Obama) or Appropriations chair (Durbin).

We all have hopes for our new leaders, but that doesn’t excuse them from making stupid remarks, or mistakes that hurt children.  And it doesn’t excuse us from failing to call them on the carpet.

Talk is cheap. Reformers should know better.

A Friday.

And Congress is on a two-week holiday.

Think it made a big splash?

Hiding in the bland research language are some nice findings:

• Opportunity Scholars are outpacing their former public school classmates on reading tests by a gap of more than 3 months of learning time. While their math scores are not rising at a similar rate, they average the same or slightly better than their counterparts.

• As in previous impact studies, families report that participating in the program has had a positive impact on their students, stressing safety as a primary area of satisfaction.

Bottom line (yet again): kids are learning, achieving, and thriving in safer school environments – all for a laughably smaller amount than it would cost to educate them in D.C.’s public school system.

The report will be required weekend reading for many and a more detailed analysis will come to light.

While it’s nice that Congress will have this data when re-authorization hearings convene, it would have been nicer if they had actually been around to receive the report.