File this editorial under "hope." From the Washington Post:
POWERFUL evidence of the worth of the D.C. school voucher program was on display at yesterday's rally in support of the program. Hundreds of children, outfitted in the uniforms of the private schools they attend through vouchers, sat in rapt attention as one of their own read a poem he had written: "Surrender me from the typical stereotype of a black young man . . . I am a whole different guy." It is to President Obama's credit that he wants to uphold the right of fledging poet Carlos Battle and 1,715 other voucher recipients not to have their educations disrupted. We can't help but wish, though, that other needy students would get the same opportunity of choice.
Just as the rally was breaking up in Freedom Plaza, word came that Mr. Obama would seek to extend the program until all participants in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program graduate from high school, although no new students would be admitted. Considering that some of the students are in pre-kindergarten, that would be an admirable commitment. It also would be welcome relief to parents who, since the program's start in 2004, have had to worry about Congress yanking funding for the federal grants of $7,500. Details of the president's plan remain sketchy, but we hope he has included provisions that would allow the siblings of voucher participants to enroll.
So the issue is this: Congressional Democrats want to shut down the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. This program allows some students to escape very bad schools and enroll in very good private schools. Why do Democrats want to shut this program down? It is to the Washington Post's credit that it recognizes the motive of the guilty party.
It was the Democrats who wrote what they hoped would be a death sentence for the program by cutting off any future funds unless the program was reauthorized. The National Education Association, a teachers union allied with the Democrats, has been on a mission to end the program as soon as possible, with no regard for the children whose lives would be affected. We hope Mr. Obama will fight for the compromise he has embraced.
Well, yes. The NEA doesn't' give a half-inch piece of chalk for the kids benefited by the program. The Post clearly wants to believe in Obama, but the "compromise" he is reluctantly considering would only continue the program for students already benefiting from it. The Editors can only "hope he has included provisions that would allow the siblings of voucher participants to enroll," and they "can't help but wish that other needy students would get the same opportunity of choice." Well, hope was the theme of the Obama campaign, wasn't it?
Barack Obama's every instinct is to give the teacher's union what it wants, except for the instinct to avoid a "teaching moment." Well, this is a teaching moment if ever there was one. It teachs one what Obama's turn to the left means, and who it will benefit.
For a more vivid perspective, see this clip from Reason T.V.
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