Here is good news, for once, from the world of Washington politics.

On Monday the Democrats in the White House and the Republicans in the House announced a deal to extend the Washington, DC vouchers program for low-income parents who want an alternative to the city's troubled public school system.

The small school voucher plan in the Capital started in 2004, when Republicans controlled the White House and the Congress. It is an effort to study whether vouchers improve educational outcomes for poor children. Since President Obama came to office, with support from teachers unions who oppose vouchers, he has tried to phase out the voucher experiment - providing money only for students previously enrolled and not for any newcomers.

But last year as part of the debt ceiling negotiation, House Speaker John Boehner, who has personally championed this program with no obvious political pay-off in sight, got President Obama to agree to extend the program.