FYI: Heritage WebMemos are now called Issue Briefs. On Friday, authorities arrested a man in an attempted suicide attack on the U.S. Capitol. The attempt marks at least the 45th publicly known attempted terrorist attack against the United States since 9/11 and is the sixth such attack targeting Washington, D.C. This latest attempted attack serves as yet…
Abstract: 2011 has been a milestone year for school choice, setting the bar high for state legislatures across the country to increase families’ educational options. What began with a crucial re-authorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program continued with 12 states creating or expanding school choice options. The movement toward educational freedom in…
Testimony before the Council of the District of ColumbiaDelivered March 14, 2011 My name is James Jay Carafano. I am the Deputy Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and the Director of Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own,…
Congress put school vouchers to the test in 2004 when it authorized the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP), a federally funded voucher program serving low-income students in the nation’s capital. It has awarded $7,500 scholarships to more than 3,700 students over the past six years. Congress mandated a formal evaluation of the program, and researchers…
Let Me Rise, a 30-minute film produced by The Heritage Foundation about the school choice debate in our nation's capital and around the country, offers a compelling look at the future of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program as told through...…
Video of District of Columbia children appealing to President Obama to continue giving DC children a choice for better education through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.…
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has unveiled an ambitious health care plan that is comprehensive in scope, sparse in detail, and therefore uncertain in its cost and savings estimates. His proposals focus on three stated objectives: offering affordable, comprehensive, and portable coverage; containing spiraling health care costs and improving quality of care; and…
Over the past several decades, federal and state transportation policies have struggled to keep pace with a rising population and increasing numbers of motorists and trucks using the roads. As a result, congestion has worsened in most major metropolitan areas, imposing extra costs on all motorists and truckers and threatening to undermine the economic vitality of many…
The District of Columbia is home to one of the nation's most troubled public school systems. The District spends $14,400 for every child in public school—well above the national average and more than any of the 50 states.[1] The 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that Washington, D.C.'s fourth and eighth graders scored lower than any other…
(Archived document, may contain errors) T 965 November 2,1993 SHOULD CONGRESS BE ABOVE THE LAW Congress] can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society James Madison, Federalist No. 57 It has been said here many times tonight that we want to treat Senators the same as everyone else Mr.…
(Archived document, may contain errors) 3 April 21, 1977 CA R TER 'S ENER G Y PR OGRA-M President Carter has proposed a comprehensive program to deal with the energy cris is. The major features of his package include the following specific proposals A tax on mileage of inefficient automobiles coupled with a rebate on high-mileage automobiles A standby tax…
Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Appropriations Committee about Obama’s fiscal...…
What pain has sequester wrought at the federal Department of Education? Apparently, not much. The 4,200-person agency...…
Very few government programs can claim a positive return on taxpayer investment. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship...…
The Medicaid expansion is touted by proponents of Obamacare as a "no-brainer." While it is true that some states may see...…
“I must go to college!” insists eight-year-old Pierre William. Such planning may seem unusual in a second grader. But...…
The third annual National School Choice Week is officially underway. Once again, school choice advocates—including...…
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gave seven more states “conditional approval” to operate...…
The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) has helped…
What can we expect for education policy during President Obama’s second term? From No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers...…
Policy has real-life consequences—a fact that has been especially true for schoolchildren in Washington, D.C. For...…