In August, the nonprofit Oklahoma Public Charter School Association (OPCSA) filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma and its state board of education for not equitably funding many of the state’s public charter schools. The OPCSA asserts the state has failed to enforce the constitution and statute, which guarantees public charter schools receive…
by Tillie Elvrum, President, PublicSchoolOptions.org As 2017 comes to a close, I am grateful for many things – but near the top of my list is school choice. Last week I attended Jeb Bush’s 2017 National Summit on Education Reform where over 1,000 education policymakers, advocates and lawmakers learned from those who have…
A lawsuit in Louisiana threatens to force more than 13,000 students out of the schools their parents chose. Stand with parents and protect their right to choose.
On Tuesday, September 5 the Louisiana Supreme Court will hear a watershed case that could affect the education of more than 13,000 students. The teachers union wants to defund some public charter schools which would force students back into lower-performing schools. The data is alarming and parents are worried.
View email. Dear Friends- We have some exciting news! The National Coalition for Public School Options (PSO) has been an enthusiastic participant, for several years, in National School Choice Week (NSCW). National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on all types of great school options for kids. It is the world’s largest celebration of…
Each summer school choice parent advocates from across the country gather in Washington, DC to attend the PSO Parent Advocacy Boot Camp. This year marked the 10th anniversary of this gathering and it’s incredible to see how far our advocacy efforts have come in the last 10 years. At this year’s boot camp parents heard…
Each year, PSO parent advocates attend multiple national charter school and education conferences. Unfortunately, each year, the parent voice seems to be missing at these meetings. While parent advocates attend, rarely are parents or their perspective included in programming. They should. After all, who knows the educational needs of their children better than their parents?…
PSO board members Tillie Elvrum and Christin White-Kaiser attended the 2016 National Charter Schools Conference in Washington, DC this week where 4,500 teachers, administrators, lawmakers, policy makers, advocates, and parents gathered to share ideas and learn about education reform and what’s going on in the world of charter schools. At a panel discussion about the…
Last week, a former official at the National Alliance of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) and a self-proclaimed education reformer, tweeted an offensive and insensitive analogy, likening the country’s virtual schools – which serve thousands of students – to thalidomide. What is thalidomide? It was a drug used in the 1950’s that caused severe birth defects…
I recently returned from the Foundation for Excellence in Education’s 2016 National Summit on Education Reform. This conference is always a favorite because the panel discussions and keynote speakers are inspiring. The conference is led by reformers and advocates who are working to make a world-class education available to every child. As parent advocates, and national board members at PublicSchoolOptions.org, we attend lots of conferences every year to learn about school choice and policies that affect our families.