School choice rally shows strong support for ESAs

For Immediate Release

Contact Michael Schaus, 702-222-0642

January 27, 2016

LAS VEGAS — More than 2,000 students, parents and educators arrived at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas for the state’s largest school choice rally on Tuesday morning, showing overwhelming public support for the preservation of Nevada’s Education Savings Accounts.

Despite the current injunction against ESAs — which is temporarily pausing the implementation of the nation’s most inclusive school choice reform — public support for the program is as strong as ever, according to Nevada Policy Research Institute Communication Director Michael Schaus

Following the rally, Schaus released the following statement about the importance of preserving school choice:

At their core, ESAs are about empowering individuals — parents, students and teachers — rather than the special interests that feed upon the government monopoly of one-size-fits-all education.

The status quo isn’t working. It is letting down too many students, and too many families. School choice is about giving parents, regardless of their background, opportunities that were previously only accessible to a select few.

In short, school choice programs — such as Nevada’s ESAs — democratizes quality education. ESAs allow parents, who otherwise don’t have the resources, the opportunity to take control of their child’s future.

And as we saw by the crowds that rallied on Tuesday morning, parents are hungry for that opportunity.

A diverse group of Nevada individuals and organizations worked together to organize Tuesday’s event, which celebrated all forms of school choice.

RISE Resource Center, Nevada Homeschool Network, Nevada Policy Research Institute, NevadaESA.com, Academica Nevada, and The LIBRE Institute were all represented as partners of the event.

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