HR 5181 · SOAR Act Improvements Act
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 20.
- Introduced
- Sep 8, 2025
- Latest action
- Sep 10, 2025
- Sponsor
- Rep. Virginia Foxx [R-NC-5]
- Policy area
- Education
- Cosponsors
- 1
Summary
SOAR Act Improvements Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2032 and modifies the District of Columbia (DC) Opportunity Scholarship Program, which is a federal program that funds private school scholarships for low-income students in DC. Under the program, the Department of Education (ED) issues grants to nonprofit organizations to pay for income-qualified DC residents to attend DC private elementary or secondary schools of their choice. The bill expands the program to include pre-kindergarten students and authorizes ED to renew grants for up to five years without a new application. Current law requires nonprofits to ensure that if more scholarship students apply to a particular school than the school can accommodate, students will be randomly selected for admission. The bill specifies that this only applies if random selection would not interfere with the school's regular admission standards or procedures. Current law also requires schools to be properly accredited in order to participate in the program (i.e., enroll scholarship students). The bill authorizes a nonparticipating school to enroll scholarship students provided it obtains accreditation within five years of first pursuing participation in the program. The bill also makes other administrative changes to the program, including (1) authorizing the majority of voting members of a nonprofit’s board to live in the DC metropolitan area, rather than in DC itself; (2) removing a cap on the use of funds for tutoring students; and (3) directing ED and the mayor of DC to periodically evaluate and publicly report on the program.
Recent actions
- Sep 10, 2025 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 20.
- Sep 10, 2025 Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Sep 8, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
- Sep 8, 2025 Introduced in House
- Sep 8, 2025 Introduced in House
Votes
No recorded votes are available for this bill.