NEXT WEEK: Kentucky Families Seek to Boost Awareness of K-12 Options During School Choice Week

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Jan 16, 2023, 04:00 ET

Kentucky celebrates educational options and quality schools during annual School Choice Week

FRANKFORT, Ky., Jan. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kentucky schools, organizations, and individuals are planning 242 celebrations of educational opportunity this month as traditional public schools, public magnet schools, private schools, and home educators highlight their unique choices.

During the last two years, families and educators in Kentucky have faced the academic consequences of the pandemic. A survey this month by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation showed that 53.7 percent of parents have recently explored or are currently considering new options for their child's education. During School Choice Week 2023, parents can learn about school choice and attend local events as they consider their K-12 options for the next school year.

The Nation's Report Card (NAEP) released in 2022 underlined the need to invest in quality education options. Kentucky students experienced greater learning losses than the national average.

The Week will bring helpful and handy information that parents need in order to support their kids. The Week is the best time of the year for families to consider their education options for the next school year.

Across the country, parents can choose between traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, homeschooling, and newer options like learning pods or microschooling.

But education policies vary from state to state. In Kentucky, parents have more open enrollment options in traditional public schools within and beyond their school district due to updates made during the 2022 legislative session. Public charter schools are also forthcoming in the state now that a funding mechanism has been created by the state, and some may open as soon as next fall. Kentucky does not offer a full-time online public school, unlike a majority of U.S. states, nor does it offer a private school choice program after its tax-credit education savings account was ruled unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court in late 2022.

Across the state, events that are positive, supportive of a wide variety of school options, and family-friendly are planned, from in-school activities to large celebrations. Among the notable celebrations in Kentucky will be a press conference in Frankfort organized by EdChoice KY on January 24 and a spirit week at Wheatley Elementary School, a public magnet school in Louisville.

"Kentucky families have been voicing their support for school choice with greater intensity over the past few years, and have been successful in bringing the state up to speed with its peers in adding public charter schools to the options that families have," said Shelby Doyle, vice president of public awareness at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. "We look forward to parents choosing excellent schools this January, and the ever-increasing awareness among Kentucky families that more options - not fewer - are the future of education in their state."

To download a guide to Kentucky school choice, use the school finder tool to search schools in your area or see celebration photos visit schoolchoiceweek.com/kentucky.

Local celebrants are available to discuss their plans with reporters upon request.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, public charter, public magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

SOURCE National School Choice Week