Their children, their choice.
Via Watchdog
Shawnee Jackson struggled to learn math in fourth grade, but her teachers at a D.C. public school wouldn’t give her the one-on-one attention she needed.
So her mother, Sheila Jackson, applied for a voucher through the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which helps low-income families in D.C. pay for private schools.
“I felt the D.C. public school system was failing her,” Sheila Jackson said. “And I just was not going to allow that to happen.”
Seven years later, Shawnee graduated valedictorian from the Preparatory School of D.C. and received a partial scholarship to study biology at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Now a sophomore, she says the OSP is what helped her succeed.
“(Without the OSP) I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go to a better school so I would have had to just stay where I was … without my teachers caring whether or not I passed,” she said.
Jackson is one of 6,000 students who have benefited from the scholarship program since its inception in 2004. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., hopes for more. He introduced the CHOICE Act to promote the OSP and provide additional scholarships.[…]
Despite opposition from the White House, Scott is confident the program will continue. His bill, Senate Bill 1909, has nine Republican co-sponsors, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Alexander Lamar, R-Tenn.
“It has been so successful and it is undeniable,” he said. “We should want every child in the current generation to get the best education possible so that we can see the future America get wider and that footprint for success get broader.”
Shawnee Jackson agrees.
“They should continue to keep it going because it’s very helpful and gives the child a great opportunity,” she said.