Issues that are important - how could anyone deny poor children of better educational opportunity? If this does not pass, there is something seriously wrong with the democratic party:
A new $300 million “Pell Grants for Kids” scholarship program to help poor children reach their full potential. Like the Federal Pell Grant program, which students can use to attend the public or private college of their choice, Pell Grants for Kids would offer scholarships to low-income children in underperforming elementary and secondary schools, including high schools with significant dropout rates. These scholarships would help with the costs of attending an out-of-district public school or nearby private or faith-based school.
The President will also announce that a White House Summit on inner city children and faith-based schools will be held this spring in Washington, D.C. Non-public schools, including faith-based schools, have helped to educate generations of low-income students; however, they are disappearing at an alarming rate. As we continue working to improve urban public schools through the No Child Left Behind Act, we must also work to preserve the critically important educational alternatives for underserved students attending chronically underperforming public schools. This Summit will help increase awareness of the challenges faced by low-income students in the inner cities and address the role of non-public schools, including faith-based schools, in meeting the needs of low-income inner city students.
Pell Grants For Kids Will Provide New Options For Parents Of Children Trapped In Underperforming Schools
Pell Grants for Kids would support State and local efforts to increase educational options for low-income K-12 students enrolled in the Nation’s most troubled public schools. Under the Pell Grants for Kids program, the Education Department would make competitive awards to States, cities, local educational agencies, and nonprofit organizations to develop K-12 scholarship programs for eligible low-income students attending schools that have not made adequate yearly progress under No Child Left Behind for five years, or that have a graduation rate of less than 60 percent.
Students in chronically underperforming schools could use scholarships to pay tuition, fees, and other education-related expenses at higher-performing out-of-district public schools or nearby private or faith-based schools. These scholarships would supplement aid already available through the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which would follow the child.
Pell Grants for Kids is modeled after the highly successful Federal Pell Grant program for college students. The Federal Pell Grant program provides low-income students with financial support to attend any of more than 5,000 public, private, and faith-based colleges. The same choice, flexibility, and support now available to students seeking a quality college education should be offered to low-income families with children in chronically low-performing schools.
Edited to add link:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/initiatives/education.html