Bob Bowden

National School Choice begins on Friday, Jan 25th @ 5 pm at the Phoenix Convention Center (5 100 N. Third St.). Beginning Jan 25th and concluding Feb 3rd, the Third Annual National School Choice Week (http://www.schoolchoiceweek.com) will feature 3,000 separate events hosted by over 200 sponsoring organizations, will raise awareness of the school choice movement. The events will include rallies, public forums, film screenings, and panel discussions. “The events will celebrate the idea that different kinds of kids learn best in different kinds of educational environments, and that the time of one-size-fits-all schools is past.” Says Bob Bowdon. Bob Bowdon is Executive Director of Choice Media (http://choicemedia.tv/ ), an education reform news service. He's also a featured speaker at National School Choice Week (http://www.schoolchoiceweek.com) and is available for interviews. National School Choice Week comes after an historic election season during which the chronic failures of many American public schools were hotly debated. As numerous high-profile documentaries this year have highlighted, education spending has increased by more than 200 percent over 25 years but student academic achievement has remained stagnant and unacceptable. “80% of money allocated towards education never makes it to the classroom. We have a system that kowtows to ever demand of the Teachers Unions and yet, America ’s schools rank dead last amongst all industrialized nations. We need reform and we need it now,” says Bowdon. “ National School Choice Week will encourage parents nationwide to demand that their children gain access to more effective and challenging schools. It will also focus on charter school growth, scholarships, tuition tax credits, and homeschooling.” Prominent National School Choice Week participants have previously included Speaker John Boehner, Senator Joe Lieberman, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, commentator Juan Williams, Grammy-award winning singer Jon Secada, Black Alliance for Educational Options Chairman Kevin P. Chavous and former New York Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz. National School Choice Week Train Tour Schedule January 25 Los Angeles, CA January 26 Albuquerque, NM January 27 East Windsor, NJ January 28 Topeka, KS January 28 Kansas City, MO January 29 Chicago, IL January 20 Milwaukee, WI January 30 South Bend, IN January 31 Toledo, OH January 31 Cleveland, OH February 1 Erie, PA February 1 Buffalo, NY February 1 Rochester, NY February 1 Albany, NY February 2 New York, NY Statistics About America’s Public Education System According to the international PISA test, given to 15-year old students in 34 different countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in math, despite spending the most per student in the world. In the 2011 Nation's Report Card, only 35% of American 8th graders tested proficient in math. In reading, it was 34%. The national on-time high school graduation rate is only 75.5%. -- leaving a full quarter of 18-year old American kids without a high school degree. And in urban areas, it's much worse. In New York City, the graduation rate is only 63%. In Chicago: 61%. Los Angeles: 55% --
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