<p>United States Congress<br />Washington, D.C. 20515</p><p> </p><p>Dear Senators and Representatives,</p><p>We are a large and diverse number of parents of children attending various schools within the District of Columbia. We write to urge your support of the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act (SOAR) in the Consolidated Appropriations, 2017.</p><p>The SOAR Act is bipartisan legislation which ensures our rights as parents to choose the best public, public charter or private school for our children. It not only provides up to $20 million for Opportunity Scholarships for low-income families to attend private schools, but also provides an additional $20 million per year for public charter schools and $20 million per year for the traditional school system. These funds have become critical financial streams for public schools to afford various academic and school improvement initiatives. This three-sector initiative provides opportunities for all our children to succeed!</p><p>The SOAR Act is an example of what works in education. When we can choose the best public, public charter, or private school for our children, there are not only more opportunities to engage in their education, but also for them to achieve greater academic excellence. These outcomes strengthen the city’s education sector as a whole.</p><p>We believe that maintaining and fully funding all educational options are critically important for the city’s families, especially low-income families served by the public charter schools and Opportunity Scholarship Program.</p><p>We therefore urge you to ensure inclusion of the SOAR Act language as written and passed in the FY 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations in the relevant budget legislative vehicle.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p> </p><p>cc: Mayor Muriel Bowser</p>
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