SOAR Permanent Authorization Act

Key Points

• This bill makes a private school scholarship program in Washington, D.C., permanent and increases its yearly budget from $60 million to $75 million starting in 2027. This program helps local students pay for tuition at private schools of their choice.
• The plan expands the program to include younger children by allowing scholarship money to be used for pre-kindergarten. It also sets aside $2.2 million for tutoring services, giving priority to students who previously attended the city's lowest-performing schools.
• To provide more stability for families, the organizations that manage these scholarships can now renew their contracts for an extra five years without going through a new competitive bidding process.
• The bill changes how the program's success is measured. A major public report on student progress, graduation rates, and school safety will be required every seven years to ensure the program is meeting its goals.
• The rules for who can lead the program are also changing. People living in nearby suburbs in Maryland and Virginia will now be allowed to serve on the program's leadership board, which was previously limited to D.C. residents.

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