A school voucher proposal that would allow poor children in the Washington D.C. area to attend the nonpublic school of their choice recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will soon come before the full U.S. Senate for a vote.

While seemingly removed from the effort to advance school choice here in New Jersey, the D. C. Voucher Amendment to the District of Columbia Appropriations Act (S-1853) deserves our support because it is an example of good legislation that will promote the ideals of the federal campaign "No Child Left Behind."

The $10 million voucher program plan will provide $7,500 to at least 1,300 low-income District of Columbia students, currently attending what are sometimes described as the worst schools in America to attend the school of their choice. It would be administered on a first come, first served basis, with a lottery to resolve situations when the number of applications in particular schools is greater than the number of openings. And it requires assessment tools not only for the students, but also for the overall success of the program, comparing with public schools such criteria as the rates of retention, drop-outs and graduations, as well as college admission, the impact on public schools and school safety data.

Because it is based on the school choice models in Milwaukee and Cleveland, which have both been upheld as constitutional, and takes no money from the coffers of public school funding, S-1583 may herald a bright future for school choice around the nation. It can lead the way for other states that seek to give more options to families, particularly those who are struggling financially but want a better education for their children.

The fact that the proposal might spur other states to seek the same type of program was actually cited in opposition to it by Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s nonvoting delegate in Congress, whose proposed amendment in the House to eliminate the funding failed. Among other reasons cited by opponents is the fact that the D.C. program will only help a select group of students and is an irresponsible use of tax dollars.

But those who envision a future for school choice view the program as a positive step. Catholic News Service reports that Oblate Father William Davis, assistant secretary for Catholic schools and public policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Education, described the proposal’s success as "good news" and a sign of progress. And S-1583 has won the support of the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the New Jersey Alliance of Catholic School Families.

When a program serves even a limited number of disadvantaged children, it advances the cause of school choice in general. The frontier of school choice will be built one effort and one campaign at a time. We all should support this measure by contacting Senators John Corzine and Frank Lautenberg and asking that they vote favorably on S-1583.