When It Comes to School Choice For Low-Income DC Residents, Obama Offers Crumb (And Is One)

President Obama, proud father of two daughters attending private school, has relented as little as possible when it comes to continuing the proven-effective, cost-effective DC school voucher program, which gives 1,700 kids up to $7,500 per year to get the hell out of the DC public school system. From the Wash Post and following a rally for the program yesterday:

President Obama will propose setting aside enough money for all 1,716 students in the District's voucher program to continue receiving grants for private school tuition until they graduate from high school, but he would allow no new students to join the program, administration officials said yesterday.

This is better than what he announced via Education Secretary Arne Duncan, which was simply to tell the voucher participants to take a hike. However, it still amounts to little more than an aristocrat flipping a coin out of a carriage window after running down a child in the street. Whole story here.

To get a sense of how the program helps the kids in it, watch this video:

Belated hat tip: Alan Vanneman, blogger and movie critic extraordinaire, with new work out about Fred Astaire and others.