National School Choice Week

Millions of Americans from all across the country will rally for school choice during National School Choice Week 2013 (Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, 2013) – the world’s largest-ever celebration of education reform.

Some studies show that America’s students lag behind more than a dozen developing countries in math and science, and the Associated Press has characterized 50 percent of the schools in America’s 50 largest cities as “dropout factories.” School choice supporters believe we can and must continually improve the educational options available to our children so that all children receive the education that is right for them.

Fox10 News Morning Anchor Sarah Wall spoke with Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, about the goal of school choice. He says Florida is doing a good job of giving parents options when it comes to their child's education. But, he said Alabama has a lot of catching up to do.

Campanella says giving families a choice, improves student achievement and graduation rates. He says school choice will force improvements in education across the board.

He had some advice for parents who have the option of school choice.

• Start looking at schools now for the 2013-2014 school year. 
• Make a list of options - what schools are available?
• Go visit schools - talk to teachers, principals and administrators - find out if that school has a culture of achievement and success.
• Talk to parents - how are parents treated at the school.
• Look up each school's performance indexes on Greatschools.com .
• Talk to your child. What sparks their love of learning? Make sure it is a good fit.

 
Prior to joining the fight for school choice, Campanella served as senior director of teacher recruitment and communications at the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), where he and colleagues recruited 3,000 talented career-changers to become public school teachers. Campanella also developed two programs at ABCTE – a recruitment program for minority teachers and a STEM teacher certification initiative – that were recognized by both the National Governors Association and the US Department of Education. He lives in Miramar Beach, Florida.

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