In September 2010, the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee approved an amendment to the proposed National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment, known as Section 583, authorized a Defense Department pilot voucher program to mitigate the cost of private school tuition for special-needs children of military parents. Sen. Jim Webb, a member of the Armed Services Committee, was an early supporter of the amendment. Apart from redirecting public school dollars to private education, the amendment could have reduced protections and services provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for those students who used the vouchers. The proposal also could have decreased federal impact aid for Virginia's school divisions that adjoined the state's many military bases. Senate approval would send the defense authorization act with the pilot attached to the more voucher-friendly House of Representatives, where final passage was even more certain. It was imperative the amendment be removed or modified before being sent by Webb's committee to the Senate floor. Last Feb. 1, Webb's office announced the voucher provision had been removed from the bill. In this article, the author describes how the senator's change of heart resulted from close collaboration among the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) public policy staff, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, the Virginia School Boards Association, and a pragmatic elected official and his responsive staff.