Editors at the Washington Examiner wonder whether the Democratic Party will follow through on its touted goal of equity.

The Democratic Party claims to champion diversity and equity, especially for disadvantaged populations, but too often, its policies prove otherwise. Democrats’ opposition to school choice, for example, undermines opportunities for low-income, underserved children to achieve the same academic excellence as higher-income students. But despite widespread support for education freedom policies among Democratic voters and calls from within the party itself to change its stance, the Democratic Party remains belligerent to the needs of families.

Crucial votes next month, however, provide congressional Democrats the perfect opportunity to come around and prove their commitment to equity, right here in the nation’s capital.

Before leaving for the August recess, House Republicans introduced a measure to the appropriations bill that would boost funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, a critical scholarship that gives vouchers to low-income families to send their children to better-performing private schools. The average income of a scholarship recipient’s family is $21,830 per year, with nearly half of recipient families receiving some kind of government assistance for food and healthcare as well. The program overwhelmingly benefits minority families — 80% of recipients are black, and 12% are Hispanic.

House Republicans want to increase funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to $26.25 million from $17.5 million. To do this, they have proposed restructuring the funding for D.C.’s education system. Historically, Congress has evenly split funds from the federal Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act among the district’s charter schools, public schools, and the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Under Republicans’ proposal, half of SOAR’s funding would go toward the Opportunity Scholarship Program, with the other half split between D.C.’s charter and public schools.

Predictably, Democratic officials have come out against the proposal, accusing Republicans of trying to gut D.C.’s public education system. But opponents of the measure are ignoring facts.