SOAR Act Improvements Act

Key Points

• This bill updates the program that provides private school scholarships, often called vouchers, to students in Washington, D.C. It extends the program's funding through 2032 and changes how the money is divided, putting 50% toward scholarships and 1/6 toward public school improvements.
• The program would expand to include pre-kindergarten, allowing children to start using scholarships before they reach kindergarten. It also increases funding for tutoring by $200,000, with priority given to students who are moving out of the city's lowest-performing schools.
• To make the program more stable, the government could renew the contracts for the organizations running the scholarships for an extra five years without a new bidding process. It also allows people living in nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs to serve on the program's leadership board.
• The bill changes how the program is evaluated. Instead of more frequent reports, a major study on student progress, graduation rates, and school safety would be required every seven years, with the first report due by January 2027.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.