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WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading House Republican says a school voucher program for District of Columbia students is successful and should continue.
The District is the only jurisdiction in the nation where students get federal funds to pay private school tuition. City leaders oppose the program, saying Congress should invest instead in the city's public and charter schools. Those schools receive funding equal to the voucher program.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, says 89 percent of voucher recipients graduated from high school last year, compared to 58 percent of District public school students. Chaffetz chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and held a hearing on the voucher program Thursday.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District in Congress, says the voucher program hasn't improved academic achievement.
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