WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Barack Obama's May 6 budget proposal to allow 1,700 poor children in the District of Columbia to keep their federally funded scholarships but bar any more students from entering the program means a slow death for an initiative that works, said a Washington archdiocesan official.

"This proposal might help children who are now in the program," said Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, superintendent for schools. "But what about the many other children in the city who will never have this opportunity?"

She was referring to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a federally funded voucher program launched as a pilot program five years ago that has to be reauthorized by Congress.

It allocates $14 million annually in individual scholarships of up to $7,500 to 1,700 children from low-income families, which allows them to attend private schools in the District of Columbia. About half of the scholarship recipients attend Catholic schools.

The announcement of the president's proposal came the same day that nearly 2,000 students, parents and other community members converged on Freedom Plaza in Washington for a rally to urge elected officials to keep the program intact.

A statement from the Washington Archdiocese noted that with the president's proposal Congress would have to appropriate funds annually and at a level that adjusts for inflation so the scholarships retain value for low-income families. The archdiocese called for permanent, full funding of the program.

Of the 1,700 children in the program, 879 attend a Catholic elementary or high school. At the archdiocese's six inner-city elementary schools, these students constitute from one-quarter to two-thirds of the total enrollment.

Weitzel-O'Neill said Obama's proposal would create a "two-tier education system" for families, barring younger siblings from going to the schools their older brothers and sisters attend with the help of the scholarships.

Four applications are received for every scholarship made available, according to the archdiocese.

"The president, in his February address to a joint session of Congress said, it 'will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education,'" Weitzel-O'Neill noted.

"He can fulfill this goal by fully funding the popular and proven Opportunity Scholarship Program into the future," she said. "The program is a proven academic success, a lifeline for the children and a matter of justice."

At the May 6 rally, Catholic school students -- many of whom had never been to such an event before -- came by bus and subway, carrying homemade signs and chanting slogans to help save the scholarships of their classmates and friends.

Over their school uniforms most students wore bright yellow T-shirts that had "Put Kids First" in black letters across the front.

Erin Taliaferro, an eighth-grade student at St. Francis Xavier School in Washington, said she participated because she believes "everybody should have the opportunity to attend a good school like we do."

DC Children First and D.C. Parents for School Choice, two groups dedicated to educational reform in the city, organized the rally across from the Wilson Building, which houses some district government offices and is blocks away from the U.S. Capitol.

Among the speakers was Washington's former mayor, Anthony Williams, who said if his parents hadn't adopted him and made sure he had the very best schooling he wouldn't have become mayor.

"Every child in our city should have the opportunity to succeed," he said. "To put our kids first, we need to fight to see that the U.S. Congress, the D.C. Council, and my successor all support school choice for our children."

Scholarship student Ronald Holassie, a sophomore at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, told the crowd the scholarship program has changed his life, making him "the successful young man standing before you."

"The Opportunity Scholarship Program must continue. I am shocked that there are some people who do not care about our education and would take away our chances of having a brighter future," added Holassie, who serves as the district's deputy youth mayor for legislative affairs.

"This is a great example of a program that's working for kids. ... It's hard to think of a federal program that deserves funding more than this," John Schilling, interim director of the Alliance for School Choice, told the Catholic Standard, Washington's archdiocesan newspaper, in an interview before the rally.

He praised those who had gathered for the event, saying, "It's important to take this stand. Low-income children in the city deserve the same opportunities as their higher-income peers."

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Contributing to this story was Mark Zimmermann.

Copyright © 2009 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops