It is the only federally funded voucher program in the United States. 108-199 . Appropriations were initially authorized for FY2004 through FY2008. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The FY2004 appropriations act provided funding for the DC OSP for the first time and also, for the first time, provided funding for District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) for the improvement of public education, and funding for the District of Columbia State Education Office (SEO) for public charter schools. While concerns were raised during consideration of the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 that only the DC OSP—not school improvement funding for DCPS or public charter schools—was authorized for five years, the federal government has also provided funds to support school improvement in DC public schools and DC public charter schools for each year that the DC OSP has been funded. The DC OSP has been reauthorized twice. The SOAR Act replaced the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, reauthorized the DC OSP, and authorized appropriations for DC public schools and DC public charter schools for FY2012 through FY2016. The program was subsequently reauthorized by the SOAR Reauthorization Act ( P.L. 115-31 ), which amended the SOAR Act and extended the authorization of appropriations for the DC OSP, DC public schools, and DC public charter schools through FY2019. Changes to the DC OSP have also been made primarily through appropriations acts in the intervening fiscal years. For FY2019, $52.5 million was appropriated for the SOAR Act, with $17.5 million each provided to the DC OSP, DCPS, and the DC State Education Office. An overview of the legislative history of the DC OSP is included in Appendix F .

		Findings and Purpose of the Program

Section 3002 includes congressional findings related to the SOAR Act that discuss parental school choice, the inadequacy of public school choice in the District of Columbia, student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and per-pupil expenditures in the District of Columbia, the DC School Choice Incentive Act, interest in the DC OSP and evaluation findings, and congressional commitment to continuing the DC OSP as part of a three-pronged funding strategy that also includes DC public schools and DC public charter schools. To receive a grant, an eligible entity is required to submit an application that includes a detailed description of how the entity will do the following:
address the program priorities (see subsequent discussion); ensure that a random selection process, which gives weight to the priorities discussed below, will be used if more eligible students apply for a scholarship than can be accommodated in the DC OSP; ensure that if more participating eligible students seek enrollment at a participating private school than the school can accommodate, the school will use a random selection process to select participating eligible students; notify parents of eligible students about the availability of expanded choice opportunities to enable parents to make informed decisions; carry out activities to provide parents of eligible students with expanded choice options by awarding scholarships; determine the amount that will be provided to parents for the payment of tuition, fees, and transportation expenses, if applicable; seek out private elementary and secondary schools in DC to participate in the program; ensure that each participating private school will meet the reporting and other program requirements; ensure that each participating private school will submit to site visits by the eligible entities as determined necessary by the eligible entity; ensure that participating schools are financially responsible and will use the funds received effectively; ensure the financial viability of participating private schools in which 85% or more of all students enrolled in the school are participating eligible students that use a scholarship; address the renewal of scholarships for participating eligible students, including continued eligibility; ensure that a majority of its voting board members or governing organization are DC residents; and ensure that it utilizes internal fiscal and quality controls and complies with applicable financial reporting requirements and DC OSP requirements. For the 2018-2019 school year, scholarship amounts are up to $8,857 for elementary and middle school and up to $13,287 for high school. The FY2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which authorized the School Choice Incentive Act, provided funding specifically for school improvement in the District of Columbia that is allocated among three entities: (1) the District of Columbia public schools for the improvement of public education, (2) the State Education Office for the expansion of public charter schools, and (3) ED for the DC OSP. Student Participation

Since the program's inception in the 2004-2005 school year through the 2018-209 school year, 24,351 applications have been submitted, and 10,701 scholarships have been awarded. WSF was once again selected as the local program administrator. Evaluations Conducted by GAO

GAO examines how federal funds are spent. With respect to the DC OSP, GAO has evaluated certain accountability mechanisms and whether they are operating as intended, such as the program's use of funds and general adherence to statutory requirements. GAO also has evaluated how ED and the District of Columbia fulfilled their roles and responsibilities for the DC OSP. Impact Evaluations

In addition to the previously discussed DC OSP evaluations conducted by GAO, which focused largely on program implementation issues, ED has conducted impact evaluations of the participation of schools, parents, and students in the DC OSP, as well as the effectiveness of the program on student achievement and other outcome measures. There is one table for each outcome measure: (1) reading and mathematics achievement ( Table D-1 ), (2) parent and student satisfaction ( Table D-2 ), (3) parent and student perceptions of school safety ( Table D-3 ), and (4) parental involvement ( Table D-4 ). P.L. 112-10 ). FY2004 Appropriations
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 ( P.L.
The District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program (DC OSP) is the only federally funded voucher program for elementary and secondary education. It operates exclusively in the District of Columbia. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (P.L. 108-199), which included the FY2004 District of Columbia Appropriations Act, also included the now-repealed DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003. The DC School Choice Incentive Act initially authorized the DC OSP. Appropriations were authorized for FY2004 through FY2008. The DC OSP provides scholarships to eligible students to attend participating private elementary or secondary schools, and is administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
The FY2004 appropriations act provided funding for the DC OSP for the first time and also, for the first time, provided funding for District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) for the improvement of public education, and funding for the District of Columbia State Education Office for public charter schools. Funding for DCPS and public charter schools was not addressed in the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003. However, for every year that Congress has provided funding for the DC OSP, it has also provided funding for the DC public schools and DC public charter schools. The provision of federal funds for the DC OSP, DC public schools, and public charter schools is commonly referred to as the "three-pronged approach" to supporting elementary and secondary education in the District of Columbia.
Reauthorization
The DC OSP has been reauthorized twice. It was reauthorized by the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act (P.L. 112-10) in 2011, which also repealed the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003. The SOAR Act authorized appropriations from FY2012 through FY2016 for the DC OSP, DC public schools, and DC public charter schools. The DC OSP was subsequently reauthorized by the SOAR Reauthorization Act (P.L. 115-31), which amended the SOAR Act and extended the authorization of appropriations for the DC OSP, DC public schools, and DC public charter schools through FY2019. Changes to the DC OSP have also been made primarily through appropriations acts in the intervening fiscal years. For FY2019, $52.5 million was appropriated for the SOAR Act, with $17.5 million each provided to the DC OSP, DCPS, and the DC State Education Office.
Participation
Based on data available from Serving Our Children, the current local DC OSP administrator, since the program's inception in the 2004-2005 school year, over 21,057 applications have been submitted, and over 8,400 scholarships have been awarded. For the 2017-2018 school year, over 3,900 applications for scholarships were received from new applicants and returning students. Over 1,650 students received and used a scholarship at 44 of 48 participating private schools that school year. While the value of the scholarship has changed over time, for the 2018-2019 school year students may receive up to $8,857 to attend a participating private elementary or middle school and up to $13,287 to attend a participating private high school.
Evaluation
The DC OSP has been evaluated by two federal agencies: the Department of Education (ED) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The evaluations conducted by these two agencies differed considerably in terms of purpose and scope. ED evaluated the participation of schools, parents, and students in the DC OSP, as well as the effectiveness of the program on student achievement and other outcome measures. GAO evaluated certain accountability mechanisms and whether they were operating as intended, such as the program's use of funds and general adherence to statutory requirements. GAO also evaluated how ED and the District of Columbia fulfilled their roles and responsibilities for the DC OSP. The impact evaluations conducted by ED found mixed results. These evaluations focused on four outcome measures: (1) reading and mathematics achievement, (2) parent and student satisfaction, (3) parent and student perceptions of school safety, and (4) parental involvement. The GAO evaluations revealed issues with the way the DC OSP was being administered by the first two local program administrators, as well as concerns about ED's oversight of the program.