This week marks National School Choice Week. Here in Colorado, Governor Polis has officially proclaimed this week Colorado School Choice Week.
What is School Choice All About?
School choice means that families have access to educational options that best meet their children’s needs. These options aren’t limited to charter schools. Rather, options include:
- traditional public schools,
- public charter schools,
- magnet schools,
- private schools,
- online schools, and
- homeschools.
As an educator, I am privileged to have dedicated almost 25 years to leading schools or helping others create strong schools for their communities. In my current position, I have the unique opportunity to work with communities all over this state. What a gift!
As a parent, my own children have benefited immensely from attending schools that were the right fit for them. They attended schools that aligned with their learning styles and interests. My own children have attended charter, traditional district, private, magnet, and a BOCES school.
How Far We’ve Come!
While we often want to talk about what is wrong with our schools, we might want to focus on how far we have come. We might want to focus on how many choices our families have.
Here are some numbers to bring it into perspective for CSI charter schools:
- Colorado charter schools collectively serve a larger share of public school students than any single school district in the state.
- CSI was created in 2004 by the state legislature.
- Its first 2 schools were approved to open in 2005.
- CSI now oversees 40 charter schools in the state.
- These schools serve over 18,000 children,
- are located in 19 towns and cities,
- and offer 15 unique education models.
While our work is not done, we have a lot to be proud of. Let’s celebrate school choices for all communities this week!