School choice supporters bringing message to Douglas County
National School Choice Week kicks off in Douglas County with an
event hosted by a conservative coalition committed to supporting
school vouchers.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation will join 710 KNUS Jan.
24, at the Douglas County Events Center with a live telecast event
featuring political commentators Dick Morris, Hugh Hewitt and
former Congressman Bob Schaffer.
“Restoring American Exceptionalism” is one of 50 school choice
events planned across the country Jan. 22-28, National School
Choice Week.
“It’s time to put children first in the education policy
debate,” said Jeff Crank, Americans for Prosperity Foundation,
Colorado State Director. “Not the adults and not the unions.”
The event, which last year was hosted in the Denver metro area,
was moved to Douglas County this year as the Douglas County School
District’s controversial school choice scholarship program makes
its way through the court system.
The program launched in 2011 with school choice scholarships,
providing school vouchers for up to 500 students who were given the
option to take their state-issued per-pupil-funding to a private
school of their choice, including religious-based institutions.
The program was halted in a Denver District Court decision
handed down in August, at the start of the 2011-12 school year. The
school district appealed the decision with the support of the
Daniels Fund, which committed $500,000 to the program’s legal
defense. The appeal continues as attorneys await completion of
transcripts of the Denver District Court hearings, said Randy
Barber, Douglas County School District spokesman.
The school district remains committed to its school choice
program and will send at least one school board member to the
upcoming National School Choice Week event at the events center,
Barber said.
“The Board of Education for Douglas County is very supportive of
the mission of this event,” Barber said.
Restoring American Exceptionalism is at 7 p.m. Jan. 24 at the
Douglas County Events Center, 500 Fairgrounds Drive, in Castle
Rock. Admission is free and the program will be telecast live on
the Internet at www.PutKidsFirst.com. More information about
National School Choice Week is available at
www.schoolchoiceweek.com.