AFC Launches Innovative Parent Engagement Campaign

New website, video exposes groups that block reforms benefiting parents and children

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Federation for Children—the nation's voice for school choice—today launched a new campaign titled Parents Know Best aimed at engaging parents in the pursuit of better educational options for their children and helping defend them against increased attacks on their judgment from special interest leaders.

The campaign will seek to better integrate the voice of parents into the ongoing education reform debate. While standard rhetoric between politicians, union leaders, media commentators, and educators continues, significant input from parents—the people who know their children best—has been noticeably absent from discussions of education reform and school choice.

The Parents Know Best campaign encourages parents to take a stand against policymakers and interest groups who presume they are better equipped to make decisions about how and where children should be educated than are the families themselves. The campaign is launching with an eye-opening video chronicling a series of recent statements from special interest group leaders on why parents should have less of a role in choosing the best school for their child.

The video can be viewed at www.ParentsKnowBest.com.

Many of the comments have gained national attention in recent weeks, including one in which Vincent Giordano, the executive director of the New Jersey Education Association, said in a television interview that "life's not always fair" while discussing the plight of New Jersey students trapped in failing schools. The NJEA spent over $11 million last year opposing the Opportunity Scholarship Act—a plan to create a scholarship tax credit program for students in the state's worst districts—and other reforms.

"We believe it is essential to support families in their journey toward figuring out the best educational option for their children, and to make sure that they are not bullied by special interests intent on maintaining the educational status quo," said Kevin P. Chavous, a senior adviser to the American Federation for Children.

The Parents Know Best campaign will also feature inspiring stories from parents who have exercised school choice, as well as provide informational resources to parents seeking better educational options for their children.

To find out more about the Parents Know Best campaign, watch the video, or get involved, visit the website at www.ParentsKnowBest.com.

SOURCE American Federation for Children

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