Choice Media Announces Major Campaign to Promote Charter School and Tax Credit Scholarship Options for Parents in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Choice Media has launched PhillySchoolChoice.com, a major media campaign involving a website, Facebook page, television commercials, YouTube videos, Twitter & Facebook ads, traditional newspaper ads and earned media coverage.  The campaign will include eight separate 30-second television commercials that will air on the early and late evening news programs of all four broadcast local news stations (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC affiliates), for five days/week, four weeks in a row. Two new television ads will be released each week during the four-week run. The commercials feature only Philadelphia parents talking about their experiences -- no politicians or union officials will appear. 

The website:
http://PhillySchoolChoice.com

The Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/phillyschoolchoice

Examples of the first two ads are here and here.

PhillySchoolChoice.com promotes educational policies based on serving children and families, not employees.  While school choice, charter schools and tax credit scholarships are supported by hundreds of thousands of parents in Philadelphia, these parents are often quiet and unconnected, without a way to influence some of the major decisions affecting the lives of their children.  Meanwhile, many of the other constituencies in the education debates have established large operations to promote their interests, sometimes at the expense of school choice for parents. Both the PhillySchoolChoice.com website and Facebook sites will allow parents to join the cause, and play a role.

PhillySchoolChoice.com will speak to all advocates of educational options -- whether they be traditional district schools, magnet schools, public charter schools, private schools or online learning.  The unifying premise is to offer parents the option of something besides the one-size-fits-all model of public education. Put simply, when tuition money follows the child to the educational institution favored by families, parents rather than bureaucracies are empowered, and students benefit.

Equally important, the campaign will help re-frame the thinking around the issue of school choice and education reform. Our goal is that when voters think about education as an issue, they will increasingly reflect on these kinds of stories about children and families, rather than the interests of employees or contractors in public schools. In fact, the experiences of the parents in the ads are so compelling and personal, we think they'll be hard to ignore.

Choice Media has selected David Hardy as the Spokesman for PhillySchoolChoice.com. David Hardy is also CEO of Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School.  In 2005, he had the vision of starting an all-boys charter school to address the unique academic and social needs of urban boys.  Two years later, his vision became a reality when Boys' Latin welcomed its inaugural class.  In the most recent data for the high school class of 2013, 84% of Boys Latin students had enrolled in college -- the highest rate of any open enrollment high school in Philadelphia.  David Hardy is a knowledgeable and experienced educator who believes that schools should exist to serve families, not the other way around.  He said, "If we don't create more high quality options for parents, they're going to leave Philadelphia.  The current crisis cannot be solved until we put more power in the hands of the parents."

Bob Bowdon, the Executive Director of Choice Media, says David Hardy is the ideal spokesman for PhillySchoolChoice.com.  "Born and raised in Philadelphia, there is no bigger champion for education in that city than David Hardy.  While some educators want to stop school choice so existing student enrollments can be guaranteed, David is simply focused on excellence.  He knows that at his school, if parents can get a superb education for their kids, the enrollment will take care of itself."

SOURCE Choice Media