PEFNC Statement on National School Choice Week

Mike Long, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, issued the following statement today in celebration of National School Choice Week:

While our organization works on behalf of families across our state every day, we’re excited to set aside time this week and join the national voice for parental school choice. There are over 40,000 events across the country—and over 1,300 right here in North Carolina—and I want to take a moment to reflect on an important question: Why do we believe so passionately in parental school choice in the first place? We believe that by empowering parents with a choice in where their child goes to school, be that traditional public, public charter, private school or home school, we are placing the outcomes of children and families first, and that’s the most important thing.

We’ve created a climate in North Carolina that empowers parents with choice, and in doing so we can produce better outcomes across the board—from traditional public schools to private, and everything in between. That’s why we’re so thrilled to be traveling our state celebrating National School Choice Week with events in Fayetteville, Wilmington, and Asheville this week.

As all the research bears out, the benefits of choice are particularly felt by low-income and minority families. Simply put, school choice and educational reform is the civil rights issue of our time and has the ability to reach across the aisle. Couple that with innovative steps forward to support families with students with specials needs, we truly believe that North Carolina is a national leader on educational reform. Those who would advocate for reverting back to an antiquated status quo that doesn’t work for all families are prioritizing systems over children.

By supporting equal access to educational options we believe we are paving a path forward for stronger communities and local economies across our state.