D. C. Vouchers, or the Opportunity (to Steal) Scholarship Hoax

If conservatives at ED were truly concerned about poor kids in D. C. getting a choice for a better education, it seems there would be some way of checking up on what those $7,500 vouchers, er, "opportunity scholarships" are buying.

Oh, I forgot--oversight gets in the way of that invisible hand of the market, which we should know will surely take care of any shoddy educational workmanship in these entrepeneurial education enterprises that are offering these D. C. children so many quality choices.

Well, apparently the invisible hand has taken a vacation or just has more important omnipotences to get done (have you heard it clapping in Iraq?), because a yet-to-be-released GAO Report says that poor D. C. parents have once again been sold a bill without much goods to go with it--and no one seems to be concerned. In fact, the Washington Scholarship Fund, the contractor chosen by ED to run the voucher program, appears to to believe that faked supervisory visits, self-certification. and self-oversight are the best ways to insure quality schools for these kids.

Gymasiums in closed strip mall pizza joint schools? Sure, they have those right back there next to the storage room. Just like they have certified teachers and accreditation. From WaPo:

A voucher program designed to send low-income children in the District to better-performing private schools has allowed some students to take classes in unsuitable learning environments and from teachers without bachelor's degrees, according to a government report.

The shortcomings are detailed in a draft prepared by the Government Accountability Office about the $12.9 million D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. The GAO said the program lacks financial controls and has failed to check whether the participating schools were accredited.

The report, obtained by The Washington Post, assesses how the D.C. government, federal education officials and the nonprofit Washington Scholarship Fund have handled the voucher program, which is in its fourth year with 1,900 students and 58 participating private schools.

The findings are likely to stoke debate about the merits of the country's first federally funded K-12 scholarship program and widen the political divide over vouchers, which Republicans favor as a form of school choice. The GAO undertook the study at the request of three Democrats, Sens. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) and Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) and District Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

The controversial voucher program was passed by Congress in 2004 to give low-income families the option of using $7,500 toward private school tuition. The average D.C. applicant is a single parent who makes $17,000 a year and has four children.

Students in Ohio and Wisconsin are also taking part in similar programs. But in the District, the report says, instead of giving poor children access to better learning environments, program officials put children at risk by failing to certify whether all of the participating schools had the required operating permits.

In a random sample of 18 schools reviewed by the GAO, two lacked occupancy permits, and four lacked permits needed for buildings used for educational purposes. At least seven of the 18 schools were certified as child development centers but not as private schools. In one case, a school was operating in a space designed for a retail store, the report says.

The schools were largely allowed to self-report that they were in compliance with city regulations, the report says, increasing the possibility that students were being ill-served without proper oversight.

"Self-certification without review to verify that the certifications are factual increases the risk that federal funds intended to allow children from low-income families to attend private schools will result in some students attending schools that are not in compliance with the District law," the report says.

The Washington Scholarship Fund, which operates the program under a contract with the U.S. Department of Education, told GAO investigators that it conducted site visits at 42 schools, but the GAO could confirm a visit to only one school.

Some schools told fund officials that they had certain amenities, such as a gymnasium or an auditorium; the report says they did not. Parents might have been misled when they reviewed the list of participating schools and their programs, the report says.

Gregory M. Cork, president and chief executive of the fund, said it has no capacity to enforce whether private schools comply with D.C. laws.

"We're not a government oversight agency," Cork said. "We report the characteristics of schools as they report them to us. Occasionally, a school might fill in the wrong blank. What we do take seriously is to match our families with the schools they choose and the learning environments that are best for their children." . . . .