Obama’s Misguided War Against School Choice

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- One of President Barack Obama’sconceits is that he is a pragmatist who seeks policies that workrather than pursuing a partisan agenda. On school choice, hedoesn’t live up to the advertisement. His administration hasbeen relentless in its ideological hostility to the idea, andseized on every possible pretext to express that hostility.

The White House considers any government funding forprivate or parochial education, even indirect funding, to be abetrayal of the public schools. The D.C. Opportunity ScholarshipProgram -- which provides federally funded vouchers for poorkids in Washington to attend private schools -- seems to havehad some positive results, including higher high-schoolgraduation rates for participants. Yet the Obama administration,not generally known for its tightfistedness, has repeatedlytried to end funding for it.