June 22, 2010 3:26PM 

# New Report: DC Voucher Program Still a Success 

By [Adam B. Schaeffer](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-b-schaeffer) 

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The latest and final scheduled [report](http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104018/pdf/20104018.pdf) on the DC voucher program is out.

Conclusion?

Even a tiny, restricted program that’s only been around for six years increases graduation rates, has a positive impact on at least some groups of students, harms no groups of students, and does this *for less than a third of what the DC Public Schools spend*.

DCPS spends around [$28,000](../2010/02/19/do-you-still-think-dc-spends-only-15000pupil/) per student. The last report pegged the average voucher at just [$6,620](../2009/04/03/dc-vouchers-better-results-at-a-quarter-the-cost/). The maximum voucher cost is just $7,500.

Huge sums of money saved, student performance increased, parents happier … why is this program being [killed](../2009/05/08/obama-tries-flinging-more-nonsense-at-the-dc-voucher-issue/)?

Oh, [right](../2009/03/19/nea-to-dems-hey-we-paid-good-money-for-you/).

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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