Event on Saturday, January 30 features AM 560 The Answer’s Joe Walsh,
state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), leading local education experts
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL – The Heartland Institute is capping off National School Choice Week with a forum on education reform focused on the needs of children and parents, not a sclerotic public education system.
What: National School Choice Week Forum
Where: The Heartland Institute, 3939 North Wilke Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004
When: Saturday, January 30 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Featured speakers: Joe Walsh, AM 560 The Answer; Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine); Bruno Behrend, senior fellow, The Heartland Institute; Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, Chicago Archdiocese; Michael McHugh, homeschooling expert
Cost: FREE. Register here (open to the public and the press).
This event, which will explore the benefits of educational choice for students across Chicago and its suburbs, is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week (January 24–30, 2016),and will be part of the largest series of education-related events in U.S. history.
Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison is serving as host of the event, which will feature a keynote speech by former congressman and current AM 560 The Answer radio personality Joe Walsh. Panelists on education choice will include Bruno Behrend, senior fellow at The Heartland Institute, Sister Mary Paul McCaughey of the Chicago Archdiocese, Michael McHugh, and other local education experts.
For more information about the event, contact Lennie Jarratt, project manager for education at The Heartland Institute at 312/377-4000 or [email protected].
The following statements from education policy experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Director of Communications Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/377-4000.
“National School Choice Week is upon us. This is a time to celebrate the education choices some students enjoy, and a time to push open the doors to give choice to all students. More than 900 events will take place across Illinois and more than 16,000 nationwide. Parents are making a statement; they do not trust a one-size-fits-all system and are demanding school choice so they can gain access to the quality education their child needs.”
Lennie Jarratt
Project Manager, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“National School Choice Week is here again, and it is a necessary reminder that America’s ‘Government Education Complex’ is concerned about its own size and power, and not all that concerned with the education of America’s children. Every citizen should take the time to understand what school choice is and how it can dramatically improve education outcomes in America. It is time to fund children, not districts, administrators, districts, and other parts of the Education Cartel.”
Bruno Behrend
Senior Fellow, Education Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“Just as New Year’s is a time for people to take stock, reflect on the past year, and plan for the next, so National School Choice Week is for those involved in the movement to bring the right of educational liberty to each and every student in the United States. While at times the pace of reform may feel glacial, we need to remember where we stood just a few years ago. A lot of progress has been made, and more will come in 2016. But for one week, let us revel in our successes and give thanks for being here at this moment to fight this fight.”
Tim Benson
Policy Analyst
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“School Choice Week 2016 comes at a time when four in five Americans think public schools deserve a grade of C or worse. Amid widespread pessimism, families who are free to take their kids’ education dollars to the school of their choice stand out with obvious joy and optimism. Research shows this happiness is based on real substance, because school choice measurably increases children’s knowledge, social virtues, and family satisfaction. Lawmakers must work to make sure more families can join this celebration next year, and every year after.”
Joy Pullmann
Research Fellow, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“School choice should be more than giving parents financial freedom through vouchers. It should be accomplished by giving parents all of the tools they need to make good choices about their children’s educational options. That would include the provision of honest and extensive information about the schools available. It would mean that private providers of educational services would aggressively and honestly compete for parents’ business – unlike their current ‘go along to get along’ styles of marketing that they pursue to placate their public school clients.”
David V. Anderson
Senior Fellow, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
“The last week of January has become party time for people of varied political persuasion who support school choice of one kind or another, or all kinds. There is nothing wrong with celebrating a shared principle, even while recognizing continuing disagreements about practical application.
“National School Choice Week lauds all manner of choice – intra-district, inter-district, magnet, charter, private, and home – and participants party on, in 16,000 events spread among the 50 states, without picking fights over what approach helps families most. So don those yellow scarves, do the NSCW dance, whoop it up, even listen to some serious talks. But by all means celebrate continuing advances for choice in American education.”
Robert G. Holland
Senior Fellow, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
The Heartland Institute is a 32-year-old national nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
Lennie Jarratt is the former director of the Center for Education Opportunities at The Heartland Institute
Bruno Behrend, J.D., is a senior fellow for education policy at The Heartland Institute.
Tim Benson joined The Heartland Institute in September 2015 as a policy analyst in the Government Relations Department.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
Robert Holland, a journalist and author who has championed school choice throughout his career, is a Heartland Institute Senior Fellow addressing education policy.
