"EXTENDED" NATIONAL KIDS CHOICE WEEK: A BDAD PERSPECTIVE

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I won’t make any assumptions regarding who followed or didn’t follow last week’s National Kids Choice Week. And for that reason, allow me to provide a very quick recap of what the week means, what happened last week, and how we will spend THIS WEEK: 1/27 - 2/3, exploring the themes of school choice, through the lens of BDads.

What is National Kids Choice Week?

National School Choice Week began back in 2011, and promotes the fundamental idea that parents should have the right and opportunity to choose educational options that are best suited for their children. For those that choose public school or those that choose to pay for private school, the matter has always been quite simple. But for millions of other families, there’s a large middle ground that may be impacted by a myriad of reasons ranging from finances, socioeconomic background, zoning and districting, to health and mental wellness. In simple terms, the “choice” of schooling is applied to kids in K-12 and speaks to the following 6 categories of schooling.

  1. Traditional Public Schools

  2. Public Charter Schools

  3. Public Magnet Schools

  4. Private Schools

  5. Online Academies

  6. Home School

As a parent of 2 young boys in private school, currently exploring “school choice” options in my home state of Illinois, I thought it wouldn’t be a horrible idea to dedicate 7 individual articles to the trade offs of each of these 6 options while also exploring the debate that accompanies “School Choice”. You’d think having the right to choose your own school would be a simple human and civil right, however whenever there’s money attached to anything, there’s always a deeper layer. I mean - c’mon - this video of kids dancing for school is enough to make me a bit skeptical. I don’t care what kind of “choice” they have - there’s an agenda (good or bad) and I’m curious to learn more.

Beginning Monday January 28, 2019 - we will start our “non-professional” but “informed” look at the debate around “School Choice” and maybe provide a bit more insight for BDads looking to understand the opportunities and considerations ahead of them as we all push for the best education we can provide our kids.

in the meantime, host of the “Reason” podcast - Nick Gillespie, spoke with NSCW president Andrew Campanella about the state of School Choice in today’s climate. Great primer for our week of deep dives - beginning with the state of the US Traditional Public School option.

Jason Smith