The District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, passed by Congress in January 2004, established the first federally funded, private school voucher program in the United States. The purpose of the new scholarship program was to provide low-income parents, particularly those whose children attend schools identified for improvement or corrective action with "expanded opportunities to attend higher performing schools in the District of Columbia". Over 8,400 students have applied for what is now called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), and rigorous evaluation of the Program, mandated by Congress, has been underway. This book describes the impacts of the Program at least four years after families who applied and were given the option to move from a public school to a participating private school of their choice.

This in-depth chronicle of 110 families in Washington, DC's Opportunity Scholarship Program provides a realistic look at how urban families experience the process of using school choice vouchers and transform from government clients to consumers of education and active citizens.