Excellence has no boundaries: National School Choice Week collaboration

January 14, 2014

HOUSTON — A quality education is one of the greatest gifts that parents can offer their children and the ability to decide where a student will receive their education, free from boundaries, is a right that every family should be able to exercise.

In Houston, the belief that all families should have a voice in the educational future of their students has brought 13 partner school systems to the table in planning for the Official Kickoff of National School Choice Week.

As an Archdiocesan network of Catholic schools, our participation is in keeping with the belief statement issued by the Texas Catholic Conference (TCC) and published on the TCC’s website which states, “The Catholic Church recognizes parents as the primary educators of their children and supports the freedom of parents to choose a school for their children with a safe, productive learning environment, and rejects the notion that a parent’s address and income level should determine a child’s educational or child care opportunities.”

The educational partner groups include: Families Empowered, Aldine Independent School District, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston network of Catholic Schools, Galveston Independent School District, Harmony Public Schools, Houston A+ Challenge, Houston Independent School District, KIPP Houston Public Schools, ResponsiveED, Spring Branch Independent School District, Texas Charter Schools Association and YES Prep Public Schools. 

The theme of Houston’s Official Kickoff event is Excellence Has No Boundaries and truly the partner groups have erased all boundaries, their collaboration a mix of support from traditional public, charter, magnet, homeschooling, private, Catholic schools and educational advocate groups, all working toward the promotion of National School Choice Week and getting the word out about educational opportunities available to families. 

“We are excited that so many different groups are coming together to celebrate educational options, and to help send a clear message to the entire country that school choice, in its many forms, benefits children and families,” said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. “Houston is the ideal place to launch our week of positive celebrations, because so many of the city’s pioneering school choice options are now being replicated in cities and states across the country.”

The Houston community is invited to come out and join in support of National School Choice Week at the official kickoff event on Jan. 25, beginning at 4 p.m at Union Station at Minute Maid Park.