Opportunity Scholarship students urge Congress to reauthorize program

Article Excerpt:

"Before he got a D.C. Opportunity Scholarship to attend Archbishop Carroll High School in Northeast Washington, Ronald Holassie was moving between public schools due to altercations and academic troubles. Then he received an OSP scholarship to attend Carroll and became a focused student who is now a high school senior, ready to go to college in Florida.

Thanks to an OSP scholarship, eighth grader Lesly Alvarez says she has found the best school environment for herself at Sacred Heart School in Northwest Washington, where she and her fellow students are being educated in a bilingual academic setting and taught to be responsible citizens in their schools and communities.

Both Alvarez and Holassie were among the witnesses who testified about how the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has benefited them during a March 1 hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives. "The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Keeping the Door Open" hearing was held at the Rayburn House Office building. The eighth grade class of St. Thomas More School in Southeast Washington also attended the hearing to support OSP. Several St. Thomas More students receive OSP grants."

Read the complete article on the Catholic Standard.