Dallas – The latest developments in the arena of scholarship vouchers for school choice are clear indications that the idea of choice and competition in education pioneered by Children's Educational Opportunity of America (CEO America), will not be going away. Rather, these latest developments indicate educational choice is a trend that may easily become the standard for the future.
Yesterday the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the expanded parental school choice program that includes religious schools as options for parents. The program currently assists more than 4,000 low-income students with half-tuition scholarships to attend more than 110 elementary and high schools in Milwaukee.
Tuesday, CEO America Board Member and Founder John T. Walton joined with a group of businessmen in New York to announce plans to raise $200 million for a national voucher program that would permit at least 50,000 inner-city public school children to attend parochial and other private schools over the next four years.
"What's happened is a clear sign that what CEO America has believed in and has been working for over the last six years is indeed what parents, children and the public want," said Fritz Steiger, president of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based CEO America. "They want a choice in education. The Wisconsin Supreme Court says they have a right to that choice and the hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into these programs shows that school choice scholarship vouchers are in high demand."
Considered the leader in the school choice movement, since its inception CEO America has helped launch more than 30 programs, representing an investment of more than $50 million, and assisting more than 50,000 children. CEO America was the first non-profit organization ever developed to help expand private voucher programs nationwide. It is the national clearinghouse of information on privately funded voucher programs. In the past year CEO America has teamed with the National Center for Policy Analysis in a joint project to educate America on the issue of school choice.
To learn more about the issues surrounding school choice, or to schedule an interview with a CEO America or NCPA school choice expert, contact Jil Hicks in the NCPA's Dallas office at 972/386-6272 or Joan Kirby in the NCPA's Washington office at 202/220-3082.
WHO:
CEO America and NCPAWHAT:
School Choice and School Voucher IssuesWHEN:
Interviews available by appointmentWHERE:
To schedule and interview call
Jil Hicks at 972/386-6272 or
Joan Kirby at 202/220-3082