The Hill News

The Obama administration stopped short of threatening to veto legislation that would re-establish a private school voucher system in Washington, D.C.

An official statement of administration policy, issued Tuesday by the Office of Management and Budget, said that the White House strongly opposes vouchers, but made no mention of a possible veto of the legislation, should it pass through Congress.

"The Administration strongly opposes expanding the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and opening it to new students," the OMB statement said. "While the President's FY 2012 Budget requests funding to improve D.C. public schools and expand high-quality public charter schools, the Administration opposes targeting resources to help a small number of individuals attend private schools rather than creating access to great public schools for every child."

The restoration of the D.C. public school vouchers is a pet project of House Speaker John Boehner! (R-Ohio); he's listed as the primary sponsor of the legislation in the House.

The voucher system was first established in 2,000 to aid children in Washington's traditionally poor public schools, but President Obama allowed the program to expire without reauthorization early in his administration.