Congress has quietly killed the voucher program that allowed hundreds of poor and socioeconomically disadvantaged kids to experience the education that their upper-class counterparts do.

John Fund takes Congress to task in a piece in the Wall Street Journal.

My vote for the worst scandal in America right now is the education monopoly that keeps poor, inner-city kids trapped in failing public schools. Special mention here goes to the politicians who oppose giving these children the choice to escape even as they send their own kids to private or elite public schools.

Let’s call them Sidwell Liberals, after the famous Washington, D.C., school where President and Mrs. Obama send their daughters. Despite this personal experience, Mr. Obama signed into law a provision passed by Congress that shuts down Washington D.C.’s voucher program, depriving 1,700 disadvantaged kids of the chance to escape failing public schools through the use of scholarships that let them attend private schools. Two of them attend Sidwell Friends School with the Obama girls.

Competition is good for public education. A good example is Sierra College’s career and technical programs, which compete with Heald and ITT Tech. The leadership of our CTE departments know it, and we consistently beat those competitors on quality, cost and student outcomes.

Well-run institutions of public education have nothing to fear from competition. It makes everyone better.

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