SOAR Permanent Authorization Act

H.R. 954 proposes to permanently authorize the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act, which provides education funding for the District of Columbia. The SOAR program currently funds public schools, public charter schools, and the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for low-income students to attend private schools.

The bill would make several amendments to how the program operates. It would update accreditation requirements for participating private schools to use a more current federal list of accreditors. The bill would also increase funding for tutoring services from $2 million to $2.2 million annually and expand tutoring assistance to include students who need academic help. Additionally, it would revise how the program is evaluated, requiring assessments of student outcomes including high school graduation rates, college enrollment, college persistence, and college graduation rates.

Currently, SOAR funding requires periodic reauthorization by Congress. This bill would make the authorization permanent, eliminating the need for Congress to repeatedly renew the program's funding authority. The bill is in its early stages and has not yet received committee action.