He made the remarks Thursday at a White House summit on inner-city children and faith-based schools.

Since 1994, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program has provided 2,600 low-income children as much as $7,500 a year for tuition, transportation and fees to attend private or parochial schools.

Bush says he will urge Congress to reauthorize the program that will end after the 2008-09 school year, and expand it to allow more children to participate.

A report last year by the Government Accountability Office cited a lack of financial controls at schools that receive vouchers and a failure to ensure that participating schools are accredited.

Information from: The Washington Post