Bush uses visit to Catholic school to promote voucher plan

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Bush visited a Washington Catholic high school Feb. 13 and praised the school's success in sending students to college. He held it up as an example of why he supports voucher programs. In what the White House billed as a "conversation on parental options and school choice," the president and Education Secretary Rod Paige joined three Washington parents and the president of Archbishop Carroll High School in a panel setting to talk about a newly passed voucher program for Washington and other programs aimed at improving the nation's schools. Bush praised Catholic schools in general for taking "the so-called hard-to-educate" and helping them to excel. Archbishop Carroll in particular deserves praise, the president said, for its record of sending 98 percent of its graduates on to college. He said that level of success was "dashing false expectations" of how poorly schools in Washington do. School president John T. Butler described the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarships as "a breath of fresh air" for D.C. students. The program will give eligible students up to $7,500 to use toward tuition, fees and transportation expenses to attend nonpublic schools beginning with the 2004-05 academic year.

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