WASHINGTON—Archbishop
George Lucas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB)
Committee on Catholic Education and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, urged legislators
to support H.R. 4901, the Scholarship for
Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act of 2016. The April 25 letter
notes that in addition to providing extra funding for public schools, the SOAR
Act provides scholarship opportunities through the DC Opportunity Scholarship
Program (OSP) for students from low-income families to attend private or
charter schools in the District of Columbia.

“The
OSP has been an educational lifeline for nearly 6,400 children from low-income
families since it began in the 2004-2005 school year. The great success of the
program is clearly demonstrated by its strong educational outcomes and parental
satisfaction with the program,” wrote Cardinal Wuerl and Archbishop Lucas. “The
Catholic Church unequivocally teaches that parents have the right and
responsibility to serve as the primary educators of their children. To assist
them in this sacred duty… the state has a fundamental obligation to support
parents in fulfilling such a right.”

The
program primarily benefits children from minority communities who are most at
risk of falling behind. The average family in the program makes less than
$22,000 per year; 97 percent of participating children are African American
and/or Hispanic; and 87 percent of participating children are from areas whose
schools are designated as in need of improvement.

H.R.
4901 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jason
Chaffetz, (R-Utah) and is scheduled for a vote on April 28.

The
full text of the letter is available at www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catholic-education/public-policy/upload/joint-usccb-wuerl-hr-4901-letter.pdf.

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Archbishop
George Lucas, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Scholarship for Opportunity and Results
Reauthorization Act, education, Committee on Catholic Education, SOAR,
scholarship, DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, Congress, H.R. 4901

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MEDIA
CONTACT:
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202-541-3202

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops