SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES IN ACT. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthoriza-
tion Act’’ or the ‘‘SOAR Reauthorization Act’’. 
(b) REFERENCES IN ACT.—Whenever in this Act an 
amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment to or 
repeal of a section or other provision, the reference shall 
be considered to be made to that section or other provision 
of the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (divi-
sion C of Public Law 112–10; sec. 38–1853.01 et seq., 
D.C. Official Code). 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Parents are best equipped to make decisions 
for their children, including the educational setting 
that will best serve the interests and educational 
needs of their children. 
(2) In 1995, Congress passed the DC School 
Reform Act, which granted the District of Columbia 
the authority to create public charter schools and 
gave parents greater educational options for their 
children. 
(3) In 2003, in partnership with the Mayor of 
the District of Columbia, the chairman of the DC 
Council Education Committee, and community activ-
ists, Congress passed the DC School Choice Incen-
tive Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–199; 118 Stat. 
126), to provide opportunity scholarships to parents 
of students in the District of Columbia to enable 
them to pursue a high-quality education at a private 
elementary or secondary school of their choice. 
(4) The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program 
(DC OSP) was part of a comprehensive three-part 
funding arrangement that provided additional funds 
for both the District of Columbia public schools and 
public charter schools of the District of Columbia. 
The intent behind the additional resources was to 
ensure both District of Columbia public and charter 
schools continued to improve. 
(5) In 2011, Congress enacted the three-part 
funding arrangement when it reauthorized the DC 
OSP and passed the Scholarships for Opportunity 
and Results (SOAR) Act (division C of Public Law 
112–10) with bipartisan support. 
(6) While the National Center for Education 
Statistics indicates that per pupil expenditure for 
public schools in the District of Columbia is the 
highest in the United States, performance on the 
National 
Assessment 
of 
Educational 
Progress 
(NAEP) continues to be near the bottom of the 
country when examining scores in mathematics and
reading for fourth and eighth grades. When Con-
gress passed the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 
2003, students in the District of Columbia ranked 
52 out of 52 States (including the Department of 
Defense schools). Since that time, the District of Co-
lumbia has made significant gains in mathematics 
and reading. However, students in the District of 
Columbia still rank in the bottom three States out 
of 52 States. According to the 2013 fourth grade 
math NAEP results, 34 percent of students are 
below basic, 38 percent are at basic, and 28 percent 
are at proficient or advanced. The 2013 fourth 
grade reading results found that 50 percent of 
fourth grade students in the District of Columbia 
are at or below basic, 27 percent are at basic, and 
23 percent are proficient or advanced. 
(7) Since the inception of the DC OSP, there 
has been strong demand for the program by parents 
and the citizens of the District of Columbia. In fact, 
74 percent of District of Columbia residents support 
continuing the program (based on the Lester & As-
sociates February 2011 Poll). 
(8) Since the program’s inception, parental sat-
isfaction has remained high. The program has also 
been found to result in significantly higher gradua-
tion rates for those students who have received and 
used their opportunity scholarships. 
(9) The DC OSP offers low-income families in 
the District of Columbia important educational al-
ternatives while public schools are improved. The 
program should continue to be reauthorized as part 
of a three-part comprehensive funding strategy for 
the District of Columbia school system providing 
equal funding for public schools, public charter 
schools, and opportunity scholarships for students to 
attend private schools. 
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to amend 
the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act to pro-
vide low-income parents residing in the District of Colum-
bia with expanded educational opportunities for enrolling 
their children in other schools in the District of Columbia, 
and provide resources to support educational reforms for 
District of Columbia Public Schools and District of Co-
lumbia public charter schools. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING IMPOSITION OF LIMITS ON TYPES OF 
ELIGIBLE STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE 
PROGRAM. 
Section 3004(a) (sec. 38–1853.04(a), D.C. Official 
Code) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
‘‘(3) PROHIBITING IMPOSITION OF LIMITS ON 
ELIGIBLE STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 
program under this division, the Secretary may 
not limit the number of eligible students receiv-
ing scholarships under section 3007(a), and 
may not prevent otherwise eligible students 
from participating in the program under this 
Act, on any of the following grounds: 
‘‘(i) The type of school the student 
previously attended. 
‘‘(ii) Whether or not the student pre-
viously received a scholarship or partici-
pated in the program. 
‘‘(iii) Whether or not the student was 
a member of the control group used by the 
Institute of Education Sciences to carry 
out previous evaluations of the program 
under section 3009. 
‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in subparagraph (A) may be construed to waive 
the requirement under section 3005(b)(1)(B) 
that the entity carrying out the program under 
this Act must carry out a random selection
process which gives weight to the priorities de-
scribed in section 3006 if more eligible students 
seek admission in the program than the pro-
gram can accommodate.’’. 
SEC. 4. REQUIRING ELIGIBLE ENTITIES TO UTILIZE INTER-
NAL FISCAL AND QUALITY CONTROLS. 
Section 3005(b)(1) (sec. 38–1853.05(b)(1), D.C. Of-
ficial Code) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (K); and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(M) how the entity will ensure that it uti-
lizes internal fiscal and quality controls; and’’. 
SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF PRIORITIES FOR AWARDING 
SCHOLARSHIPS TO DETERMINING ELIGIBLE 
STUDENTS. 
Section 3006(1) (sec. 38–1853.06(1), D.C. Official 
Code) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘identified 
for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring 
under section 1116 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘identified as one of the lowest-per-