Experts to Talk School Choice Policy in North Carolina at Roundtable Discussion, Film Screening

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When it comes to school choice policy in North Carolina, what are leaders in Raleigh doing right, and where could they improve? And what new information do parents need to know about choosing the right education environments for their children?

On Wednesday, January 28 at 7:30am, a panel of education experts from across the Tar Heel State will gather to answer those questions, and more, at a special event planned to coincide with National School Choice Week (January 25-31, 2015).

The panel, which will be moderated by award-winning education filmmaker and Executive Director of Choice Media Bob Bowdon and Director of Education Outreach of the John Locke Foundation Lindalyn Kakadelis, will include: Representative Paul Stam; Michael Fedewa, superintendent of schools for the Raleigh Diocese; Jeannie Metcalf, vice chair, Winston Salem/Forsyth County schools; Bryan Setser, chair, Board for Connections Academy Virtual School; and Doug Haynes, CEO, Rocky Mount Prep Charter School, and chair, Board for the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

The discussion will precede a screening of Bowdon's 2014 documentary short "The Ticket: The Many Faces of School Choice," which provides a closer look at the unique and distinctive education options available to students and parents in different states across the country.

The event is planned by the John Locke Foundation in partnership with Choice Media, Inc.

"For those of us who embrace school choice, the goal isn't to promote private schools or charter schools at the expense of traditional public schools. I embrace traditional schools; especially since those are the schools the vast majority of North Carolina's children will attend. But I also embrace other types of education providers, as well as families' unfettered right to actively choose where to send their children to school. It's about giving parents the best possible options, pure and simple," said Lindalyn Kakadelis, director of education outreach, John Locke Foundation.

"We're excited to bring 'The Ticket,' and a robust discussion of school choice, to North Carolina," Bowdon said. "National School Choice Week provides a unique opportunity, every year, to shine a positive spotlight on the need for, and benefits of, educational choice. That's exactly what we'll do at this event."

Celebrated every year in January, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on all types of effective education options for children, including traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling. The celebration is nonpartisan and nonpolitical. National School Choice Week 2015 will feature a history-making more than 11,000 independently planned and independently funded events across all 50 states.

For more information, contact:
Lindalyn Kakadelis, John Locke Foundation
[e-mail] or 704-231-9767

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SOURCE National School Choice Week