On September 10, the House Committee on Oversight marked up H.R. 5181, the SOAR Act Improvements Act which amends the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act and reauthorizes the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program through 2032. Since 2003, the federally funded Opportunity Scholarship Program has provided low-income children in Washington, D.C. with scholarships to attend private school. Each time the program has come before Congress for renewal, COPAA and partners have opposed it due to the discriminatory practices of some schools that harm access and opportunity for students with disabilities and other vulnerable children. Taking up that argument, Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) stepped forward [at the 5:40 mark] in the hearing to passionately discuss the need for disability and civil rights protections for students with disabilities to be added to the DC scholarship program while Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) argued that such requirements are “red tape.” The bill is now prepped for a final vote in the House; however, the Senate has not yet acted making the timing for final passage unclear.