We heard several speeches at the Republican National Convention praising school choice. This blog post in Education Week discusses the shifts in the Republican platform for education and also what's remained the same.
"School Choice is the Key to Reintroducing the Promise of Liberty"
Check out this analysis/opinion piece in the Washington Times about the Education Freedom Accounts Act that will help families in the District of Columbia.
Over a ten year period the number of children enrolled in charter schools rose by 1.7 million.
Charter schools now serve 6 percent of all public school students. Enrollment has grown sixfold in the past 15 years. During the 2015–16 school year, more than 400 new charter public schools opened, serving an estimated 250,000 additional students.[1] More than 6,800 charter public schools are now enrolling an estimated 2.9 million students throughout the country.
Read the rest of this article which is published as part of the Heritage Foundation's 2016 Index of Culture and Opportunity.
Even When School Choice Works, Critics Call It a Failure
Vicki Alger writes...."Thankfully, parents and policymakers in the states are moving ahead with an ever-growing array of parental choice programs, including vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, and education savings accounts (ESAs). Such progress will be difficult if not impossible to stop, no matter how loudly critics complain."
You can read her full article in The Beacon here.
Why Virtual Schooling Can Transform Access To Education -- Philanthropists Take Note
Jake Hayman makes the case for why philanthropists around the world should take a hard look at the good virtual schooling can do--and support it. You can read his article here.
Valedictorian: Wisconsin Connections Academy Taught Me More than Academics
Student Michelle Mueller talks about her experience at WCA. Check out what she had to say here.
River Falls Student Graduates from Wisconsin's First Online Public School
This is a great story about how a virtual school helped a student reach his full potential. Check out the full article here.
Why we need parents in education
Great piece by Gerard Robinson of American Enterprise Institute who explains, "The reason to involve parents in a child's education is not just theoretical."
You can read the whole column here.
Review of 100 Studies Shows Support for School Choice
From the article on WisconsinWatchdog.org:
“I think it shows that what they’ve been attempting to do here in Wisconsin, give parents more high quality choices, is something that is having a positive impact on our education system."
You can read the whole article here.
New Statewide Survey Shows Majority of Wisconsinites Proudly say #ITrustParents
Today the American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, released the results of a Wisconsin survey showing a majority of likely voters support the statewide voucher program in the state.
Continue reading here.