It's National School Choice Week

That's right, it's a time to reflect on the progress of the school choice movement and rededicate efforts to move forward.
Liberating Learning blog contributor Lisa Graham Keegan helped pioneer the school choice movement in Arizona. In 1990, an organization called Arizona Business Leaders for Education (ABLE) created a state plan for education reform. Key components of that plan were public report cards for schools, student testing and school choice.
Click here to read more about ABLE and Graham Keegan's memories of this fledgling effort.
Christina Martin is another Liberating Learning blog contributor. Martin is a policy analyst for the School Choice Project at the Cascade Policy Institute. This week, Martin writes, the institute has several events to increase awareness and build support for school choice.
Click here to read about them.
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, was a pioneer in the push to expand education choices in Georgia. The foundation is one of about a dozen organizations that will gather at the state's capitol on Jan. 25 for a school choice celebration and rally. Click here for more information.
The Center of Education Reform is another early advocate for school choice and provides a wealth of information about choice and other education reform issues. This week, the center is featuring a series of lunchtime (noon Eastern) interactive events that focus on school choice issues.
On Jan. 27, the center's series spotlights "A Virtual Choice," and features Mickey Revenaugh, senior vice president of Connections Academies and board vice chair of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Click here for a complete list of all programs.
There are lots of events this week, and also sure to be lots written about school choice and the virtual education movement. The Liberating Learning website will keep you informed on it all. In the meantime, for more information on National School Choice Week, click here to find an event or to learn more about the movement.

The Education Breakthrough Network

In addition to being a contributor to the Liberating Learning Blog, I have been working on an exciting new project, the Education Breakthrough Network.

We want our website to be a place where you can find people like yourself--people engaged in creating excellence in American education.

We are people of all political parties, all cultures and social backgrounds, all faiths, and all ethnicities. What binds us together is our belief in the

power of education.

Here is a brief video of an interview I did in which I talk about the Education Breakthrough Network. Take a look and please take a look at the website.

Can Parents Help Turn Schools Around?

I participated in an online debate for the National Journal. The subject: What role should parents play in school reform?

The first step toward increasing parental participation is to allow parents to choose the kind of school--be it virtual or bricks-and-mortar, charter or neighborhood--their children will attend. Read all of my response to the National Journal's education debate question.