Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he is one vote shy of the number he needs to pass the new omnibus appropriations bill. Among those he is targeting are Senators who want an amendment to extend DC's school voucher program, which is being defunded in the pending legislation
Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander is one of those targeted Senators, and in debate over the bill made a speech on the floor urging the continued support of the controversial program, in the form of an appropriations amendment he co-sponsors. In addition, and maybe surprisingly, the new Secretary of Education – Arne Duncan – also wants to see the program extended. Education Week quotes from his statement on the subject:
“The President and I oppose vouchers. Vouchers are not the answer to school improvement in the District of Columbia or anywhere else. … However, students currently enrolled in private schools with the help of the DC voucher program should be allowed to remain where they are. I don’t think it makes sense to take kids out of school where they’re happy and safe and satisfied and learning. I think those kids need to stay in their schools.”
Will a voucher amendment alone be enough to secure the votes of Alexander and/or others on the spending bill? That remains unclear, but what seems certain is that vouchers have become a bargaining chip in the negotiations.
