THIS MONTH: National School Choice Week (Jan. 22-28) Brings School Choice, Educational Opportunity to Families Nationwide

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Jan 12, 2023, 07:00 ET

More than 26,000 events and activities planned by traditional public, public charter, public magnet, private, online, and home education options

MIAMI, Jan. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of a year of huge changes in the education policy landscape –– during which more than two dozen states expanded education options for parents in 2022 –– National School Choice Week (Jan. 22-28) is poised to help transform those options into actual school choices for countless families. Through events and activities at local schools, conversations on social media and among friends and family, and large-scale school fairs and rallies, more parents will be thinking about finding the right educational fit for their sons and daughters during National School Choice Week (NSCW) than at any other time of the year.

In its thirteenth year, the Week is unique in its emphasis on partnering with and celebrating every type of school: traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online learning options, private schools, homeschooling, learning pods, and microschools. Of the 23,000 schools planning events and activities for the Week:

16.3 percent of all regular K-12 public and private schools, including 13.7 percent of public schools and 24.5 percent of private schools, are participating in NSCW 2023.
8.79 million students attend schools that will participate in NSCW 2023, an increase of 19.5 percent over the number of students attending NSCW-participating schools in 2022.
2,413 counties, or 76.8 percent of all counties across the U.S., are home to a school that will participate in NSCW 2023.
14.3 percent of NSCW-participating K-12 schools are located in geographic areas where the median household income is 150 percent or less of the HHS Federal Poverty Guideline; comparatively, 10.3 percent of all U.S. K-12 schools are located in such geographic areas.
26.9 percent of NSCW-participating K-12 schools are located in geographic areas where nonwhite residents comprise more than 50 percent of the total population; comparatively, 19.1 percent of all U.S. K-12 schools are located in such geographic areas.

"School Choice Week shows the many sides of school choice on a macro and micro scale," said Andrew Campanella, president and CEO of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, which organizes the Week.

"On the one hand, it's a time when individual conversations are happening across the country between dads and daughters, teachers and students, and community leaders and parents. On the other, cities and states at large are taking stock of the education options they make available to parents, celebrating the success of students in all types of schools, and challenging themselves to be more proactive in putting kids first when it comes to education."

National School Choice Week will be celebrated from Jan. 22-28, 2023. More information and resources for journalists interested in covering the Week at schoolchoiceweek.com/multimedia. More information for families can be found at schoolchoiceweek.com/mystate.

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, 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.

For more information, visit schoolchoiceweek.com

SOURCE National School Choice Week