It’s National School Choice Week and nearly 1,000 parents, teachers, and children will be gathered together this week at the state capitol to celebrate all of the school choice options that are available in Mississippi.
“It’s really not focused on just private schools or charter schools or anything like that,” said Grant Callen, President of Empower Mississippi. “It’s focused on just the options that we have and the celebration that we have public schools and charter schools, and private schools and homeschools, and we believe that parents should have the right to choose.”
Callen said that Governor Phil Bryant, along with Lt. Governor Tate Reeves and other elected officials will be on hand at the event that will start at 9:30 Tuesday morning at the state Capitol.
“School choice has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two decades, with literally millions of students benefiting from the choice movement, precisely because most studies have shown that school choice programs help improve educational outcomes—for students who receive private school scholarships, those who attend public charter schools, and those who remain in traditional public schools,” Callen said. “As we work with parents around the state to discuss their schooling options, we see firsthand how the hope and opportunity of school choice excites people as they find out more about it.”
National School Choice Week is held every January and is the world’s largest annual celebration of opportunity in education. Callen said that the main goal of the event is to raise public awareness on all types of education options for children, including traditional public school, public charter schools, magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling. This year, more than 32,000 events will be held nationwide.
